


Julie Anne Dursley

by Spexis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fem!Dudley, Female Dudley Dursley, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26027449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spexis/pseuds/Spexis
Summary: Julie Dursley is Harry Potter's mean and spoiled cousin. It goes without saying that Harry never liked her, but can people change for the better? Female Dudley Dursley
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

On June 23rd, 1980, Petunia Dursley gave birth to a daughter. The name that she and her husband Vernon gave her was Julie Anne Dursley. Vernon and Petunia were proud of their baby, and considered her the perfect addition to their lives. The Dursleys saw themselves as perfectly normal and would not have wanted it any other way.

Privet Drive, where they lived in number four, was a street in Little Whinging, a town near London. It was a rather boring town, and most of its neighbourhoods consisted of boxy houses that all looked alike with gardens both at the front and the back. The majority of the residents in this community were rich and snobby. 

Being the head of Grunnings, a drill-making company, Vernon made good money and therefore they had everything they desired. Petunia was a housewife and she spent her days taking care of her child, cleaning the house, preparing dinner and spying on the neighbours. For all their seemingly idyllic existence, the Dursleys had a secret and they were terrified that anyone would find out. 

Petunia’s sister was a witch. They did not speak, but Petunia did inform her sister about Julie’s birth. Approximately five weeks after that, Petunia’s sister also gave birth to a child, a boy named Harry. Vernon and Petunia hated the idea of their daughter mingling with a kid like that, and they saw it as another reason to pretend those people did not exist. It was a simple yet peaceful life, until one day everything changed.

On November 1, 1981, Petunia had just kissed Vernon goodbye as he was about to leave for work, when outside on his doorstep he found some sort of bundle with a note. ‘What the…’ he said. ‘Petunia!’  
Petunia quickly made her way to the front door, where she found a baby. The baby had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead, and attached to the bundle was a note. Vernon and Petunia read the note together. ‘Something about blood. What a bunch of baloney!’ Vernon said, when the two of them had finished reading. ‘We can’t possibly take this kid in.’ Petunia just sighed and picked the baby up. ‘Trust me, dear, we must. We have no choice.’ The family was going to make sure, though, that their perfect daughter would always be their number one and that this boy would not negatively affect her in any way.

The boy, whose name was Harry James Potter, was made to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs even though the Dursleys had the room. Over the years, pictures of Julie growing up decorated the living room, but there were none of Harry. The Dursleys did not need any unnecessary reminders of his existence. 

Sometimes weird things happened, though. One time Petunia gave Harry a truly awful haircut, just leaving a pluck of hair to hide that ‘hideous scar’, only for him to have all of his hair back the next day. Another time he had ended up on the roof of the school, but for all he knew he had simply jumped over a fence. It had also happened a few times that total strangers seemed to recognize him on the street. The funny thing was that all of those strangers were wearing robes. Harry lived a miserable life at the Dursleys, getting no love or any form of positive attention, and was basically used as a slave. When he was younger he had dreamt of some unknown relative coming to get him, but like most dreams that one never came true.

On June 23rd, 1991, it was the day of Julie’s eleventh birthday. She had brown eyes and shoulder length dark blonde hair. She was of average height and in good physical shape, due to her being an avid gymnast. She was spoiled, arrogant, conceited, selfish, narcissistic, petulant, unkind, lazy, manipulative, sly, and fairly intelligent. She could be the politest person on the planet if it served her interest. She liked gymnastics, cooking, reading, taking naps, eating chocolate, watching television and most of all annoying Harry. She took after the example set by her parents and loved to bully and humiliate him. At school, she was the primary reason for Harry’s lack of friends, as she was the queen bee and nobody dared to go against her. She never let an opportunity pass by to get Harry in trouble; just the other week she intentionally made him trip while he was carrying a tray. He was sent to his cupboard without any meal.

Harry was woken up by knocking on his cupboard door. ‘Up! Get up! Now!’ Petunia said, smacking the door once more before walking back into the kitchen. Harry groaned and took his glasses when suddenly he heard someone running down the stairs. The footsteps stopped about halfway down. ‘Wake up, cousin! It’s my birthday!’ Julie screamed excitedly. She jumped on the staircase a few times, causing dust to fall on Harry’s head, before she ran down. When she saw Harry trying to get out of the cupboard, she meanly pushed him back in on her way to the kitchen. 

‘Oh, there she comes, the birthday girl!’ Petunia said when Julie entered the room. Vernon also wished his daughter a happy birthday, and then Petunia and Julie hugged each other. When Harry entered the kitchen, Petunia immediately told him to cook breakfast (‘Don’t you dare burn anything! I want everything to be perfect on Jewel’s special day!’), before leading Julie to the table loaded with presents. She did not exactly gasp with delight or do anything else a normal human being would do; she just stared at her presents for a few seconds before turning to her parents. 

‘How many are there?’ she asked suspiciously. ’36, I counted them myself’ Vernon told his daughter. She glared at him. ’36?! Last year I had 37!’ she spat. ‘Yes, well, some of them are quite a bit bigger than last year’ Vernon tried to calm down his daughter, while Harry rolled his eyes. ‘I DON’T CARE HOW BIG THEY ARE!’ Julie screamed and she slammed the table with her palms. At this point Petunia stepped in. She gently placed her arms around Julie’s neck. ‘Now, now. Here’s what we’re going to do, when we go out we’ll buy you two new presents! How’s that, Juliebee?' Satisfied with that, Julie grabbed the nearest present and began opening it. 

The phone rang and while Petunia went to answer it, Harry and Vernon watched Julie happily open up present after present. When Petunia re-entered the room she looked rather worried. ‘Vernon, we have a problem. Mrs Figg tripped over one of her cats and broke her leg. She can’t take the boy.’ Mrs Figg was an elderly woman who lived across the street, in number eleven. Whenever the Dursleys did not want to take Harry with them, such as on Julie’s birthday and other family outings or when they went on vacation, they dumped him at Mrs Figg’s. Harry hated it there; the house smelled of cabbage and Mrs Figg always made Harry look at pictures of her cats. 

Upon hearing the news, Julie’s mouth fell open in horror and she abruptly stopped unwrapping the present she was holding. ‘How selfish of that woman to break her leg on my birthday! Doesn’t she realise that my birthday only happens like once a year?’ ‘So, what do we do now?’ Petunia asked, ignoring her shocked daughter. ‘We could phone aunt Marge’ Vernon suggested. ‘Don’t be silly, she can’t stand him.’ While her parents were discussing various possibilities, Julie slowly continued unwrapping her presents, eyeing her parents suspiciously and shooting Harry an angry look, as if it was somehow his fault. ‘We could just leave him here’ Petunia said. Harry liked that idea. He could enjoy some peace and quiet, watch television at his leisure and maybe even play some games on Julie’s computer. ‘And find the house in ruins when we get back?’ Vernon said. Petunia sighed. ‘Looks like we’re out of options. We’ll have to take him with us to the zoo.’ ‘But I don’t want him to come! He always ruins everything!’ Julie whined. Petunia hugged her daughter again. ‘Don’t you worry, popkin. I’ll see to it that he won’t ruin your special day. Okay?’ Julie said nothing, glaring at her mother instead. ‘How about we’ll buy you even more presents?’ ‘How many more?’ ‘As many as you like, sweetheart.’ ‘Okay, mummy’ Julie said after a few seconds, now smiling sweetly at her mother, who, feeling most relieved, hugged her again. Over her mother’s shoulder, she shot Harry a nasty grin and then continued opening her presents. 

It was actually amazing how she could always get her parents to give her anything she wanted, as long as she acted angry or upset enough. Her parents never corrected her and always gave positive attention to her wrong actions, which made it no surprise that Julie was a rather angry, impulsive, manipulative and irresponsible person. After she had opened all of her presents, which took a while, the family headed to the car. While Petunia and Julie got in, Vernon stopped Harry for a moment. ‘I’m warning you now, boy. Any funny business, any at all, and you won’t have any meals for a week. Get in!’

It was a warm Sunday afternoon and there were a lot of families at the London Zoo. Harry kept his distance from the three Dursleys and actually really enjoyed the day out. Nothing special happened, except for when Julie threw a tantrum in the restaurant when her sorbet was not ‘big enough’ and she was given another one. Harry could not believe his luck when he was allowed to finish her first sorbet. After that they went to the reptile house, where they looked at a large boa constrictor. It was sleeping on a rock, and directly behind the glass was a little pond with brown water. On the back wall there was a nice painting of a jungle and the side walls had plants as well as some signs with information. ‘Make it move!’ Julie said. Vernon looked up from his little guide book and rapped the glass. It did not work. Julie then rapped the glass much harder. ‘MOVE!’ Harry sighed. ‘He’s asleep!’ he said pointedly, looking at his cousin. ‘I don’t give a flying flapdoodle, he’s boring’ she scoffed, before turning to another enclosure. 

‘Sorry about her, she doesn’t understand what it’s like, lying there day after day, having people press their ugly faces in on you’ Harry said. Suddenly the snake looked up and blinked. ‘Can you hear me?’ Harry asked incredulously. The snake nodded. ‘It’s just… I’ve never talked to a snake before. Do you, I mean, do you talk to people often?’ The snake shook its head. ‘You’re from Burma, aren’t you? Was it nice there? Do you miss your family?’ The snake turned its head towards a sign that said Bred in Captivity. ‘I see,’ Harry said sympathetically, ‘that’s me as well, I never knew my parents either.’ Suddenly he heard running. ‘Mummy, dad, come here! You won’t believe what this snake’s doing!’ Julie screamed, before planting her elbow in Harry’s ribs. She put her hands on the glass wall, while Harry, who had fallen to the ground, glared at her. Suddenly the glass just disappeared, causing Julie to lose her balance and topple into the enclosure with a shriek. She landed straight into the muddy pool, instantly becoming soaked through. Despite his shock Harry could not help but laugh, and he watched as Julie shivered from both cold and fear when the snake slid right above her out of the exhibit, stopping in front of Harry. ‘Thanksssssss’ it said. ‘Er, anytime’ Harry replied. People started screaming and running when the snake headed for freedom, and amidst the echoing screams Julie slowly clambered out of the pond to get out of the cage. However, she could not. She panicky felt with her hands until she came to the realisation that the glass had reappeared, which meant that she was stuck inside. ‘Mum, mummy! Help me!’ she screamed with panic in her voice. Petunia and Vernon, walking by, spotted their unfortunate daughter in the exhibit. Petunia shrieked and ran to the cage, with Vernon following. ‘My darling girl! How did you get in there?! Who did this to you?! Is there a snake?!' Seeing Julie’s predicament and her screaming for her mummy made Harry laugh so hard that he had a stream of tears running down his face. That is, until Vernon caught him laughing and shot him a very threatening look. Harry’s grin disappeared at once. He suddenly realised just what had happened and that he was now in big trouble. While Julie (who was almost crying) and Petunia were screaming and rapping the glass, a serious fear came over him. 

Some twenty minutes later park service got Julie out of the cage and gave the family a blanket for free, which they wrapped around her. She was very distraught and whimpered all the way home, apparently feeling very cold, wet and humiliated. To say her birthday was ruined would be an understatement. When they got home, Petunia immediately put her daughter under a hot shower (‘It’s all right, sweetheart. We’ll get you out of these terrible clothes!’), while Vernon asked his nephew what happened. ‘I swear, I don’t know! One minute the glass was there and then it was gone, it was like magic!’ Vernon scoffed and shoved Harry into the cupboard. ‘There’s no such thing as magic!’

Vernon locked Harry in the cupboard for three weeks. He was allowed out only two times a day for toilet breaks, and for the rest he just stayed in it. He did get a meal a day, even though Vernon had said that he would not. It was the most severe punishment he had ever been given. He did not regret the incident, though, for he felt that Julie got what she deserved. He just did not understand how the glass could disappear and then reappear; it did not make any sense. 

By the time his punishment was over, the summer vacation had started. He grabbed his book and went to read in the sunny garden, when he saw Julie was already doing the same thing there. She looked up when he sat down in the chair opposite to hers, but she did not say anything until about ten minutes later. ‘Hey, do you want a drink?’ she asked. Harry looked up in surprise. ‘Er, a glass of water would be nice.’ She got up and went inside, only to return with one glass of apple juice. She put it on the table in front of her and continued reading. ‘Er, did you forget my drink?’ Harry asked politely. Julie looked up from her book and smiled smugly. ‘No, I just asked you if you wanted a drink, I didn’t say I would actually get you one.’ She broke into a fit of giggles and Harry sighed. ‘That’s not very nice.’ ‘Who said I was nice?’ Harry decided not to let her get to him and got up to get a glass of water himself, as he had gotten thirsty. 

When he came back he saw Julie had placed her feet on his chair. ‘Julie,’ he said calmly, ‘what are your feet doing on my chair?’ Once again Julie looked up. ‘What is your chair doing underneath my feet?’ she replied pointedly. At this point Harry had had enough of her little stunts; he promptly grabbed the chair and pulled it away from Julie, who instinctively strengthened her feet’s grip. As a result she flew off her chair and landed with her bottom on the concrete terrace. ‘Ow!’ she screamed, getting up and looking at her hands that had partially taken the hit. She glared at Harry and ran past him inside. ‘Mum, mummy! Harry pushed me off my chair and it really hurt!’ Sure enough, Julie came back with Petunia in tow. Petunia did not give Harry a chance to tell his side of the story and made him clean all of the windows by means of punishment. With Harry washing the garden side windows, Julie went back to her chair. She did not get back to her book, but just watched with amusement how Harry did his chore. Harry felt incredibly stupid; he should never have let Julie get to him like that. He did, however, feel somewhat proud of himself when he did not react to Julie throwing her apple juice at the window (‘You missed a spot!’) he had just finished cleaning.

The next day Petunia and Julie went to London to get her Smeltings school uniform, consisting of a red tie, a white blouse, a red blazer, grey stockings and a grey skirt. Smeltings was the same school that Vernon had attended, and despite having some doubts about sending her to a boarding school they were certain that it would be a good school for their daughter. Not least because Smeltings had a very competitive sports programme, and so Julie could continue developing as a gymnast, under professional guidance. When Harry entered the living room he saw Julie posing in her uniform, with Vernon and Petunia fawning over her and taking pictures. ‘Aw, can you believe it Vernon, our little girl is growing up so fast!’ Petunia said rapturously. ‘Proudest moment of my life!’ Vernon said. ‘Will I have to wear something like that too?’ Harry asked, kind of ruining their moment. ‘You, go to Smeltings?’ Petunia asked, annoyed as always when he dared asking a question. ‘Ha!’ Vernon scoffed. The two of them burst out laughing, and Julie joined in after a few seconds. ‘Don’t be so stupid, you’re going to the state school where you belong!’ Petunia said and as if to emphasize her words she walked over to the kitchen, where she had put a laundry-basket on the kitchen counter. ‘This is what you’re going to be wearing, when I finish dying it.' She lifted something grey and very soggy out of the basket. ‘Those are just some old clothes, it’ll fit me like an elephant skin!’ ‘It’ll fit you well enough!’ Petunia said pointedly, ‘now go get the post!’ Harry sighed. Well, at least for the first time he would not have Julie with him at school, and so maybe he could actually make friends there. 

When he went to get the mail, he was shocked to find that one of the three letters was addressed to him. After all, he had never received any mail before. Mr. H. Potter, The Cupboard under the Stairs, 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Harry stared at the letter in disbelief, then started making his way to the kitchen. He gave the letters to Vernon, still captivated by the letter that really was his. That is, until Julie rushed over to him and snatched the letter right out of his hands. ‘Dad, look, Harry’s got a letter!’ she screamed, handing it over to her father. ‘Hey, give it back, it’s mine!’ Harry said. ‘Ha, who’d be writing to you?’ Vernon asked him in a mocking tone. He turned the letter over and saw what it was about. His grin disappeared immediately, and he looked at Petunia, who had also seen the letter. ‘Julie, Harry, out! Now!’ Vernon said loudly, immediately sparking protests from both of them. ‘I want to know what it’s about!’ ‘It’s my letter, give it back!’ To regain control Vernon slammed the table, startling both children. ‘OUT!’ he bellowed. ‘Come’ Julie whispered to Harry, before softly touching his arm and leading him out. Harry figured she had the right idea and followed. In the hall they tried to overhear Vernon and Petunia but to no avail; they could not hear a thing. Harry glared at his cousin. ‘You idiot! If you hadn’t taken it from me, I’d have been able to read it!’ he snapped at her. ‘Hey, that’s not fair, how could I know that? Also, bit rich calling me an idiot when you could’ve just put the letter in that cute cupboard of yours and read it there, you halfwit!’ she retorted. Harry realised that she had a point. Why didn’t he do that? Why didn’t he just put it in his cupboard before bringing Vernon the other mail? The rest of the day he kept thinking about the letter. Who would write to him?

The next couple of days letters kept coming in, sometimes at extremely odd places. One morning Petunia even found them inside a bunch of eggs! Since the letters were addressed to the cupboard, Vernon and Petunia decided that it would be best to move Harry to the smallest bedroom, which was currently used to store all of Julie’s possessions that could not fit in her bedroom anymore. When Vernon told his nephew the good news during breakfast, Julie’s face fell immediately. ‘What? You can’t possibly be serious, then where am I going to put all of my stuff?’ she asked, containing her anger. ‘Don’t worry Juliebee, most of it can easily fit in the garage’ Petunia said soothingly. Julie shot her mother a dirty look. ‘And what if it won’t?’ she asked, now definitely sounding angry. ‘How about you go upstairs in a minute and see which things you really want to keep and which things you aren’t really fond of anymore? Then we can put the good stuff in the guest’s bedroom and move the other stuff to the garage’ Petunia said. ‘I don’t see why he' (she looked at Harry with disdain) 'can’t just stay in his cupboard, like he’s done for like ten years already!’ Harry did not say anything. He surely liked the idea of getting that bedroom, but he would rather be in his cupboard with the letter than in the bedroom without. Still he decided that it was best to just take it, and worry about the letter after. 

While he was gathering his stuff, he heard Julie argue with her parents. ‘I need that room! How can you do this to me?! Don’t you love me anymore?!’ Harry then heard his aunt say something very quietly, and apparently that made Julie realise that she was not going to win this battle and succumbed to the inevitable. Maybe she did not care much about the bedroom after all and just did not want Harry to have it, or did her parents manage to convince her that it was for the best. Anyway, when Harry had finished grabbing his stuff he made his way to the bedroom; it only took him one trip to move all of his belongings. When he entered the room, he saw Julie was indeed scanning the shelves.

‘So, you finally came out of the closet? I guess we’re neighbours now. I hope my new plasma screen TV won’t disturb you too much.’ ‘What new TV?’ Harry asked. ‘Oh, just the one I’m getting by means of compensation for losing this room to you,’ she said, ‘pretty neat, huh? Then we both got something today.’ Harry sighed. So that is why she had suddenly given up the fight. ‘Oh, wow, my video camera! I completely forgot about it’ Julie said. She grabbed it and inspected the microphone that came along with it, while aiming the lens at Harry. Harry looked at the shelf she had been emptying. He spotted Julie’s first television set, that she had thrown out of the window in a fit of rage upon hearing that her favourite show had been cancelled. He also saw her kick scooter, some stuffed animals, a colouring book and some worn dolls. Ultimately the video camera was the only thing that she wanted to keep, and she threw the other things in the plastic bag that she had brought along. ‘All right, you got everything you need?’ Harry asked. ‘Yup, I think so’ Julie said, looking around the room once more. ‘Very well, then I’d like you to leave my room’ Harry said. It felt good saying that. ‘Fine, it smells in here anyway’ Julie sneered and then she left, slamming the door in her departure, leaving Harry alone in his new room. It was not much; all there was in it were a bed, a bedside table, a desk, a chair, the shelves and a wardrobe, but at least it was his.

Moving Harry from the cupboard to the smallest bedroom did not stop letters from coming in, and Vernon tossed all of them into the fireplace. One morning the family was having breakfast. ‘Fine day, Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week. Why’s that, Julie?’ ‘I don’t know, daddy.’ ‘Because there’s no post on Sunday?’ Harry asked. ‘Ah, right you are, Harry! No post on Sunday. Ha! No blasted letters today!’ Vernon said, and barely had he finished when a letter came flying through the fireplace right across his face. About two seconds later about a thousand letters came shooting out of the fireplace, straight into the living room. The noise was deafening, and the Dursleys all started screaming. Harry managed to grab a letter and ran away with it, only to be grabbed by Vernon before he could open it. ‘Give me that letter!’ he screamed. ‘Get off! Let go of me! They’re my letters!’ Harry screamed back. ‘That’s it! We’re going away, far away, where they can’t find us! Pack some stuff for a few days, now!’ Petunia and Julie, who had followed Vernon and were now standing in the kitchen door, looked at each other speechless.

About ten minutes later everyone was in the car, Julie a bit shocked and quiet because Vernon had told her off for packing so slowly. It could well have been the very first time that her father was angry with her, and it had affected her a bit. Vernon drove for what seemed like hours, and it had gotten dark by the time they got to a hotel. Harry had bad associations with long Dursley car rides. When Julie and Harry were eight, they went to Great Yarmouth for the weekend. That was actually the only time that Harry had been taken on vacation by the Dursleys, because normally they always dropped him off at Mrs Figg’s. After about thirty minutes into the journey, Julie started complaining that she was nauseous; she had a pretty bad case of motion sickness at the time and the pills her parents got her did not work. Disaster struck when they were about halfway there, and Julie vomited all over the floorboard in front of her. Vernon immediately took the first exit and Harry let out a sassy ‘ew’. Maybe as a result of that, Vernon made Harry clean the car, while Petunia and Julie walked around on the parking lot, Petunia trying to calm down her whimpering daughter. When they went back on the road again, Petunia made Julie and Harry switch seats and the smell lingered for the entire duration of the trip until Vernon had the car cleaned professionally.

Vernon parked the car and went inside to ask if there were any rooms available, while Petunia, Julie and Harry stayed in the car. ‘Mummy, I’m hungry!’ Julie complained as soon as her father had slammed the car door shut. It was the first thing she had said since their departure, which was rather out of character considering she usually would not stop talking. Harry realised that he was hungry too. ‘It’s going to be okay, sweetie’ Petunia said, but her voice was shaking a bit. Apparently she did not feel comfortable with the situation either. Julie just sighed and leaned her head against the window, presumably because she was feeling tired. Vernon came back smiling. ‘We’re in luck! They have two rooms left. Let’s go!’ He led his family to two tiny rooms farthest from the reception. Vernon and Petunia shared one room, while Julie and Harry got the other. To their horror there was only a double bed, that nearly took up the entire room. 

‘Wait a minute, I’ll actually have to sleep in the same bed as you? Wow, and I thought this day could literally not get any worse!’ Julie whined. ‘Believe it or not, but I’m also not exactly looking forward to this’ Harry said pointedly. Julie looked at him. ‘It’s like a thousand times grosser for me to do this than it’s for you so pipe down!’ Harry kept his cool. ‘Your father said that the rooms we got were the last ones left, and considering how he’s been acting today I don’t think it’d be very wise for you to bother him with your complaints.’ Julie did not want to admit it, but she realised that her cousin had a point; she did not want to be told off again, she was not used to that and she did not like it at all. She sighed. ‘There’s not even a TV in here. I already missed about four shows that aired during the day, and now I’ll miss like three more’ she said. ‘Can you stop being such a princess?’ Harry asked annoyedly. ‘Sure, as soon as you stop being a twat, which is never.’ She angrily threw her suitcase into a corner, then looked back at Harry. ‘You do realise that this is all your fault, right? If you hadn’t gotten all those blasted letters I’d still be at home, lying in my large bed, watching my favourite shows on my plasma.’ Harry sighed. ‘How’s it my fault? I can’t help someone sending me them, but it must be important considering how many I received.’ ‘Because, well… it just is.’ ‘Solid argument.’ ‘Why are you still talking? Nobody likes a person who doesn’t know when to shut up!’ Julie spat. ‘Ah, that explains why nobody likes you’ Harry said coolly. Julie rolled her eyes. ‘Careful now, or you’ll have two scars. Anyway, I just spent the entire day sitting in a car and now I got to sleep like this? Maybe I can detach it.’ She walked up to the bed, but did so in very agitated fashion, and as a result of that she hit her toe hard against the bedpost. She screamed in pain and danced around the room, holding her foot. Harry could not help but laugh; he did not necessarily laugh because she was hurt, but at the comical fashion of it. Julie glared at him with tears in her eyes. ‘Think it’s funny, do ya?’ ‘Yes, very much so.’ She called him a bad name and then went to hold her foot under cold water. A few minutes later it became clear that her complaints had been a waste of energy, as she fell asleep within a minute. It took Harry a bit longer to fall asleep. As the sound of Julie’s loud snoring filled the room, he sat by the window, watching the headlights of cars go by. He kept thinking about the letters, and if he would ever know what they were about.

The next morning they enjoyed a simple yet much welcomed breakfast, before they went to check out. ‘Eh, these came for you earlier this morning’ the hotel receptionist said, handing Vernon a ton of letters. Vernon groaned, took the entire bunch and disposed of them outside. Back in the car Petunia tried to convince her husband to just return home. ‘It’s no use, if they can find us here, they can find us anywhere!’ she said. ‘Yes, daddy, please just take us home!’ Julie joined in. ‘No way, I’m not giving up that easily’ Vernon said. ‘But…’ Julie started, only to be interrupted immediately. ‘No buts! What I say goes. If it helps any, consider it a road trip.’ ‘Yes, on the highway to hell maybe!’ Julie snapped. Vernon got annoyed with his daughter and glared at her through the rear-view mirror. Julie went quiet immediately, probably intimidated and realising that she should not provoke her father too much, and leaned her head against the window, just like she did yesterday.

Evening had fallen by the time they stopped at the coast. Like yesterday they were all hungry and tired. Vernon had gone out of the car and he seemed happy when he came back. ‘Everybody out! I got us the perfect place to stay, no way will they find us there!’ He pointed at a rock in the sea, about 200 yards from the shore. Petunia, Julie and Harry all reluctantly got out; it was cold and raining. To their horror, Vernon made them sit on a boat, which he rowed to the rock on which was some sort of run-down cabin. The boat trip only took about fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours. The cold, the rain, the wind and splashing water made them shiver; Julie and Petunia were clinging to each other to keep warm. When they finally reached the rocky island they immediately went inside. It was the most depressing place Harry had ever seen. There were only two rooms and it smelled really bad. As they ate dinner, consisting of a banana and a bag of crisps, the weather outside worsened; the wind became so powerful that it caused the walls to shake. ‘Dad, will we get a refund if this thing collapses?’ Julie asked, but she did not get a response. 

After dinner, Petunia made Julie a bed on the sagging couch using some old blankets she had found, while she and Vernon got a double bed in the other room. Harry was not given any blanket and thus he was forced to find the softest spot on the cold floor. It was about 9 PM when they went to sleep fully clothed, trying to forget their misery. Harry noticed that Julie was very scared of the storm, constantly sitting up and whimpering softly whenever they heard a clash of thunder. After another bang, Julie suddenly started speaking. ‘You can’t sleep either, can you?’ ‘No, but at least you got the sofa’ Harry said. ‘You know, that’s not the only thing I’ve got. Watch!’ she said. She got off the couch and walked towards her backpack. To Harry’s surprise she took two apples out of it. ‘Took them with me from the hotel, because I’m so smart’ she said smugly. She began eating one. ‘Can I have the other one, please?’ Harry asked enviously. Julie grinned evilly. ‘Let me think for a second. No.’ Harry sighed and rolled onto his side, away from her. He felt Julie looking at him, and then suddenly something bizarre happened. Maybe she felt sorry for her cousin as he was lying there on the floor without a blanket, trying to keep warm. ‘All right, here you go’ she said softly and not only did she hand him the apple, but she also gave him one of her blankets. ‘Wow, thank you, Julie’ Harry said. He was truly astonished. ‘Consider it a birthday present’ she said, and Harry realised that it was indeed his eleventh birthday in a few hours. She got back on the couch, looking at him as if she was already regretting what she had done. ‘Dad has gone mad, hasn’t he? Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be back home’ Julie said. ‘That’d be nice’ Harry said with his mouth full of apple. ‘Well, we’d better get some sleep. It’ll probably be another hellish day tomorrow. Good night, Harry’ she said and she laid her head on the couch’s arm rest. ‘Good night’ he said. Julie eventually fell asleep, but Harry could not get comfortable even with the blanket she had given him. He looked at her lighted digital watch. 11:50. He would be eleven in ten minutes time. With his finger he drew a birthday cake with eleven candles on the floor, and exactly at midnight he blew them out. ‘Make a wish, Harry’ he whispered to himself.

BOOM! A deafening noise caused the whole cabin to shake. Harry jumped to his feet and Julie woke up with a start. They watched how the door cracked open, and a giant man appeared. Harry backed away to a corner, while Julie started screaming, too scared to get off the couch. Vernon, holding a gun, and Petunia entered the room, as the giant man casually put the door back in its place. ‘Sorry ‘bout that’ he said. ‘I demand that you leave at once, sir! You’re breaking and entering!’ Vernon said, trying to sound brave, but his voice was trembling. To say the giant man was unimpressed would be an understatement; he walked over to Vernon, grabbed the gun and bended it upwards. ‘Dry up, Dursley, yeh great prune’ he said. The gun fired, and Julie started screaming again. The giant man walked towards the couch where she sat frozen with fear. ‘Budge up, will ya’ he said. ‘Y-y-yes, sir’ she stuttered and she immediately jumped off. ‘Y-y-yes, sir’ the giant man imitated her as she quickly ran to hide behind her parents. He then sat down and spotted Harry. ‘Ah, there yeh are Harry! Last time I saw yeh, yeh was just a baby! Got something for ya. I sat on it but it should taste all right.’ He handed Harry a present, which turned out to be a cake. 'Happee Birthdae Harry' was written on it. ‘Thank you!’ Harry said. ‘It’s not every day that yer young man turns eleven, now is it?’ the giant man said with a smile. He then took out an umbrella and pointed it at the fireplace. Out came two sparks and the fire started. Vernon and Petunia gasped, while Julie clearly said ‘wow!’. ‘Excuse me, who are you?’ Harry asked. The warmth of the fire felt nice. ‘Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. O’ course, yeh know all about Hogwarts!’ ‘Er, no’ Harry said. ‘Blimey, Harry, yeh never wondered where yer mum and dad learned it all?’ ‘Learned what?’ Hagrid shot a furious look at the Dursleys. ‘Yeh never told him? Yeh never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore wrote yeh?’ The Dursleys were too scared to answer, so Hagrid turned back to Harry. ‘Yer a wizard.’ ‘I’m a what?’ Harry asked incredulously. ‘A wizard, and a pretty good one after yeh’ve been trained up a bit.’ 

Suddenly Julie snorted; not very loud, but Hagrid heard it as she had moved closer to Harry and Hagrid to hear every word of their conversation. ‘Got something to say?’ Hagrid asked her, somewhat angered by her interruption. ‘Well… him? A wizard? Just look at him, you gotta be kidding!’ she said with a smile that was probably the result of both nervousness and amusement. ‘Look, yer not pretty enough ter be that stupid so dry up before I step on ya’ Hagrid growled at her. Within a second she turned redder than a tomato, while Harry could not help but grin. Suddenly Vernon regained a bit of courage. ‘I forbid you to talk to my daughter like that!’ he said. Julie smiled at him, probably reassured of the fact that her father still loved her despite his odd behaviour the last two days. Hagrid ignored him and looked at Harry. ‘It can’t be, you’ve made a mistake… I’m just Harry’ Harry stuttered. ‘Well, just Harry, have yeh never made things happen yeh couldn’t explain when yeh were angry or scared?’ Harry vividly remembered how he set the snake free about a month ago; it began to make sense now. Upon seeing Harry’s face Hagrid chuckled a bit, and then he handed Harry one of the letters he had been wanting to read so badly. 

As he was reading about how he got accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and which books and equipment he was supposed to bring, Vernon suddenly started speaking. ‘He’ll not be going! When we took him in we swore we’d have nothing of this nonsense!’ he said. Harry looked up. ‘You knew? You knew and you never told me?’ Then suddenly Petunia stepped in. ‘Of course we knew! With my perfect sister. Oh, how my parents were proud when she got a letter just like yours! A witch in the family, how wonderful! It was always Lily this and Lily that but only I saw her for what she was – a freak! Then she met that Potter, got married and had you and of course I knew you’d be just as weird and freaky and if all that wasn’t enough she got herself blown up and I ended up stuck with you!’ She was panting after letting that all out, and Julie gently touched her mother’s arm, whispering something to her. ‘Blown up? You said my parents died in a car crash!’ Harry said angrily. ‘A car crash?!’ Hagrid screamed. ‘He’ll not be going and that’s that!’ Vernon said firmly. ‘Oh, and I s’pose a Muggle like yeh will stop him?’ Hagrid asked mockingly. ‘Muggle?’ Harry asked. ‘People who can’t do magic, like these three losers here’ Hagrid said. ‘I won’t pay for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic tricks!’ Vernon said and then suddenly Hagrid lost his temper. ‘Never insult Dumbledore in front of me!’ He whipped out his umbrella and pointed it at Julie. Before any of them could realise how weird it was to be threatened by a pink umbrella, there was a flash of red light, a loud bang, and a squeak of pain. Harry watched with both shock and amusement how Julie rolled up her sleeves to find that both her arms were now covered with feathers! All of the Dursleys were now screaming and Vernon pulled both Petunia and Julie, who shot one last terrified look at Hagrid, into the other room. ‘Ha!’ Harry could not help himself. ‘I shouldn’ta done that’ Hagrid said and he shook his head. ‘Wanted ter turn her into a chicken, but apparently with a voice like that she was already close enough. Please don’t tell anyone about this Harry, I am not s’posed ter do magic ya see.’ Harry nodded. ‘All right.’ 

Suddenly Vernon came bursting back into the room, dragging Julie along with her arm. It was no surprise that she was wincing while he did that. ‘I demand that you fix this at once!’ Vernon screamed, pulling Julie’s arm and showing it to Hagrid. Julie squealed and looked at Hagrid with sheer terror. ‘Sorry, Dursley, no can do. I know how ter give ‘em, but not how ter remove ‘em’ Hagrid said. ‘So, now what? How are we supposed to explain this to the doctor?’ ‘Dunno, be creative like yeh were with that car crash story. Anyway, Harry, we better be off, we’ve fallen behind schedule. Unless yeh’d rather stay of course.’ Harry followed Hagrid outside without any hesitation.

The month of August was not a good time for Harry. The Dursleys were all so mad at him that they ignored him completely, which at first was a good thing. but after a while it became somewhat suffocating and depressing. Julie was supposed to be at gymnastics camp, but because of what happened to her arms she could no longer go. She now spent her days lying on the couch, watching television, wearing long sleeves to cover her feathers and too scared to go outside. Vernon worked during the week, while Petunia spent most of her time pampering Julie after her traumatic event, bringing her ice cream and cold drinks whenever she called. Whenever Julie saw Harry she glared at him; it was very clear to him that she held him responsible for what happened to her arms. 

Harry mostly kept to his room, reading his new school books; he found them all fascinating and he could not wait to go to Hogwarts. One afternoon he went to the kitchen to get a drink, when Julie, hearing the sounds in the kitchen, mistook him for her mother. ‘Mummy, can you bring me a glass of water?’ she whined. ‘Of course, Juliebee!’ Harry imitated his aunt. ‘Oh’ Julie said, feeling slightly embarrassed. Harry looked at her and she quickly turned her focus on the television again. She had started to feel really uncomfortable around Harry, who picked up on that quickly. Much to her displeasure, Harry sat down in the chair next to the couch she was lying on. Suddenly she started sneezing, loud as always, and her sleeves dropped so Harry could see the feathers on her arms. Feeling extremely awkward, she immediately covered them up again, and Harry grinned. ‘Does it hurt when you dry off your arms after taking a shower?’ he asked casually. ‘Mum’s right, you’re a freak and I can’t wait for you to leave. If I never see you again, it’ll be too soon!’ she snapped at him, sounding furious. ‘Then I guess we’ve got one thing in common after all, I can’t wait to leave either’ he said coolly. He stood up. ‘But…’ he said. Julie looked at him. ‘What?’ ‘At least your arms will be warm during the winter.’ At that point Petunia entered the kitchen and to avoid any problems Harry just went back to his room.

Finally it was the last day of August and Harry decided that he should talk to his uncle about getting to the station the next day. ‘Er, uncle Vernon?’ ’Yes?’ Vernon said without looking up from his newspaper. ‘I need to be at King’s Cross tomorrow, could you please give me a ride?’ ‘All right’ Vernon said, much to Harry’s relief. ‘Thank you.’ ‘But only because we’re going up to London anyway, we’re taking Julie to a private hospital to have those bloody feathers removed.’ The next day Harry woke up very early, extremely excited about going to Hogwarts. He packed all of his stuff, making sure three times that he had not forgotten anything, and then waited for the Dursleys to wake up. It was painfully quiet in the car. Julie was terrified of the surgery she was about to undergo and did not say anything, and her eyes did not seem to register anything. Harry was happy to arrive at the station. The Dursleys drove off as soon as he had unloaded his trunk, and then he started to look for platform nine and three-quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

The summer was not as bad as Harry had expected it to be. True, the Dursleys initially locked all of his school stuff in the cupboard, almost immediately after they had picked him up from the station, but later on he was allowed to keep them in his room. Maybe the Dursleys had gotten a bit scared over time; they were unaware of the fact that he was not allowed to do magic outside of school. He mostly spent his time doing homework in his room and avoided the Dursleys a bit.

Around the house not much had changed since last summer, except of course for the swimming pool that was now in the backyard. Julie’s gymnastics coach had urged his players that they should all be swimming a lot this summer, as it trained both the arms and the legs. Julie, however, complained that public swimming pools were ‘just plain gross’ and therefore Vernon decided to get themselves a private pool. Vernon told anyone who would listen that Julie had become the national U12 girl gymnastics champion; a huge, golden trophy now sat on the fireplace. After a while her father’s constant boasting seemed to embarrass her a bit. 

‘It’s not that big of a deal, dad’ she mumbled when they stumbled upon a neighbour at the mall, with whom Vernon shared it as well. ‘Nonsense, it’s a huge deal, you’re the pride and joy of our family!’ he said loudly in the middle of the hardware store. Harry laughed at Julie’s embarrassment, which resulted in her taking a poke at him with her elbow. She then complained to her father that she was bored, and he gave her a note of twenty pounds so she and Harry could get some food. They left the store and walked down the hall, until they got to a store that had a huge candy-filled barrel just outside its entrance. A devious grin spread across Julie’s face. 

‘All right, here’s the plan. You go and stand right there, so the shopkeeper’s view gets blocked. Then I’ll grab a handful.’ Harry was shocked. ‘Why on earth would you do that? You’ve got enough money to just buy some.’ ‘Oh, Harry, you’re so cute when you’re dumb. It’s about the thrill, the rush! Great positioning, now stand perfectly still.’ Quick as a flash she grabbed a whole load of candy and stuffed it in her pockets. ‘This is where we casually walk away,’ she hissed, ‘come!’ They walked around the corner and Harry, only now realising what had happened, glared at her. ‘Are you out of your mind? Don’t drag me into your mischief!’ Julie carefully looked around and then offered him some sweets. ‘Here you go, fairly earned. You did well back there.’ ‘Good one’ Harry said, refusing the candy. Julie rolled her eyes. ‘Fine, more for me. Serves that mong of a shopkeeper right to put his goods outside like that. Now let’s go for some real food.’ 

They walked into a self-service restaurant and grabbed a tray. Julie allowed him to get a reasonably large sandwich and a can of soda (‘Yeah, whatever.’), and they made their way to the counter. After Julie had paid for their food, they walked into the restaurant. ‘One second, I need ketchup,’ Harry said and he looked around, ‘do you see it?’ ‘Yeah, right behind me. I know you’re wearing glasses, but come on.’ ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I couldn’t see past your gigantic rump’ Harry snapped. Julie slowly turned back to him, put her tray on the table with the sauces, and then, without saying a word, walked up to him and hit his tray right out of his hands. It fell on the floor with a loud bang and the entire restaurant looked at them. ‘Oopsy daisy, clumsy me’ Julie whispered, before stepping away from him, leaving him with the mess. 

The summer days slowly but surely passed. Julie did not actually use the pool to train and instead just spent her time relaxing in it. Sometimes she would invite her friends over, which annoyed Harry as the pool was fairly close to his window and the sounds distracted him from his work. From time to time, Vernon became seriously annoyed by the sounds of Harry’s owl Hedwig, and some arguments erupted. Harry tried to explain that she was bored and that it would go much better if only she was allowed out of the cage, but Vernon argued that he did not want Harry communicating with his ‘fellow freaks’. Then one time Harry suddenly heard a knock on his door, and Julie came in with his Nimbus 2000. ‘Here’s your broom back’ she said, and she casually threw it onto his bed. ‘What in the world were you doing with my broom?’ Harry asked angrily. He instinctively got up from his chair. ‘I used it to kill a spider’ Julie said, and she started to giggle. ‘Don’t ever touch my stuff again or you’re gonna wish you were never born!’ Harry said furiously, approaching her to literally push her out of his room. Julie just laughed and stepped backwards out of his room into the hallway. ‘Oh, I’m ever so sorry, I didn’t know you cared that much about a bunch of twigs’ she said mockingly. She shot him one more nasty grin before she went downstairs.

Apart from that, it was sort of okay until the day of his twelfth birthday. The family was having breakfast, and they seemed to have forgotten or simply just ignored the fact that it was his birthday. ‘Pass the frying pan!’ Julie commanded Harry. ‘You’ve forgotten the magic word’ Harry said irritably. Chaos promptly erupted. ‘How many times have I told you not to use foul language like that in our house?!’ Vernon screamed after he had jumped to his feet. Julie smirked; she loved it when Harry got yelled at. ‘I meant ‘please’, I didn’t actually…’ Harry tried to explain himself, but Vernon kept screaming. ‘I warned you! Don’t think I’m messing around, boy, or you’ll regret it!’ ‘All right, I’m sorry’ Harry said. Vernon glared at him once more and then changed the subject. ‘So, as we all know, today’s a very important day.’ For a second Harry thought he meant his birthday, but that was not the case. It was about the dinner party, scheduled for tonight. Vernon wanted to impress a rich builder, so he could get a very lucrative business deal. If all went well, they would buy themselves a house on Majorca. Julie was very excited about that; there were few places she liked more than the beach. The Dursleys had worked out a whole schedule, almost minute by minute, but Harry’s part was the easiest by far: he was to stay in his room all evening and pretend not to exist. They ran through it one more time and then after breakfast Vernon went to pick up his dinner jacket, while Petunia and Julie started baking a gigantic pudding. Harry was told not to bother them and so he went outside. 

There he went to sit by the pool and absently watched the water. ‘Happy birthday to me’ he said, feeling quite sad. He had always hated his birthday, because it was a painful reminder that nobody in his household cared about him. The only good birthday he had ever had was his last one, his eleventh, when Hagrid had come to tell him that he was a wizard. Again he had gotten no cards, no presents, nothing. Not that he expected any from the Dursleys, he was smarter than that, but he hated to admit that he was severely disappointed in his Hogwarts friends. Hadn’t Ron invited him to spend the summer at his place? In fact he had not received any letter. Not one. Zilch. He just sat there for a while, until he heard a voice. ‘I know what today is’ Julie said as she walked up to him, with one of her signature smug smiles. ‘What?’ Harry said, abruptly snapping out of his vicious circle of negative thoughts. ‘I know what today is,’ she repeated, ‘it’s your birthday! How come you didn’t receive any cards or presents? Oh, that’s right, you probably don’t even have friends in that mental institution you call a school. Like, let’s be honest here, who’d possibly want to be friends with you?’ She grinned, apparently satisfied with her insults, and Harry had to resist the temptation of pushing her into the pool. ‘At least I’m not so insecure about myself that I have to get my satisfaction out of being mean’ Harry said coolly. ‘What you call being mean is what I call opening you up to the truth.’ ‘Yeah, your truth’ Harry said and he stared at the water again. ‘It’s nothing personal though, it’s just the way you are. And why are you staring at the water?’ Julie asked suspiciously. ‘I’m trying to figure out how to control it and make it fall on you’ he said. She immediately took a few steps away from him. ‘I know you’re not going to do that, you’ll be in so much trouble’ she said, but she did not sound convinced. Harry promptly started saying random words, gibberish if you will, and Julie ran away screaming. ‘Mum, mummy, he’s doing it!’ Harry knew he now was in serious trouble, but did not expect Petunia going as far as trying to hit him with a frying pan. He was then given work to do, and he would not be given any food before he had finished. 

His chores took hours, and while he was doing them he thought that maybe Julie had been right. Maybe he did not have friends at Hogwarts. Julie stayed near him for the rest of the afternoon, eating ice cream and watching him work. ‘Keep it up, Harry, this is even more entertaining than TV!’ About an hour before the builder and his wife were to arrive she went to change into the dress they had bought for the occasion, and Harry finished his chores shortly thereafter. He was given one sandwich and a glass of water and was subsequently sent to his room.

At seven o’clock the guests arrived. The Dursleys were a bit nervous, but Julie remembered what she was supposed to do. ‘May I take your coats, Mr and Mrs Mason?’ she asked with a smile. They smiled back at her and after hanging up their coats with the utmost care she followed the adults into the living room. When everyone sat down she offered their guests refreshments, while Vernon started telling a well-rehearsed joke. Just before he got to the punchline he got distracted by banging sounds, coming from upstairs. ‘Er, Julie must’ve left her television on’ Vernon said, with a meaningful look at his daughter. ‘Oh! Yes, probably, my apologies’ Julie said quickly, smiling at the Masons before leaving the room. Upstairs she softly knocked on Harry’s door and opened it. ‘What are you doing? You ruined dad’s joke!’ she hissed. ‘Er, sorry’ Harry said, with his hand resting on the wardrobe door. Seeing Julie’s dark green dress Harry felt she looked like a Slytherin ready for prom. ‘Please be wise. If you mess this up dad won’t be happy and then you most definitely won’t be happy’ she spat. ‘You’re right’ Harry said. She looked at the wardrobe he was still touching and then, much to Harry’s relief, went back downstairs. 

Things went pretty well from there, until Petunia and Julie suddenly saw their massive pudding float in the air! They spotted Harry and Julie clearly formed the word ‘no’ with her mouth. In shock they watched how the pudding flew towards Mrs Mason, as Harry followed it with his arms outstretched. Then it happened: just before Harry could grab the pudding it fell all over Mrs Mason, who started screaming. Harry stood there frozen with fear, while Vernon immediately tried to save the situation. ‘This is just our nephew, he’s disturbed, meeting strangers upsets him so we kept him upstairs…’.

It goes without saying that Vernon did not get his deal. He was so furious with his nephew that he locked him into his room and installed bars on his window. ‘You’re never going back to that school, boy’ he said with an evil grin. The Dursleys were now aware that Harry was not allowed to use magic outside of school, as shortly before the Masons ran from their home an owl had come in with a letter. The letter informed Harry, and therefore also the Dursleys, that he had been given a serious warning about using underage magic. Having lost his only weapon, Harry now found himself trapped in his room, only getting two meals a day in addition to two bathroom breaks. Harry had never felt so desperate before. Was there any way out of this situation? What was he going to do?

One night Julie suddenly woke up. She checked her watch and saw it was about 3 in the morning. She groaned and wondered what had woken her up, until she looked out the window. ‘What the hell!’ she said aloud. There was a car hovering in front of Harry’s window! In the car she saw three red-headed boys. Too surprised to do anything she saw how they attached a rope to Harry’s bars. ‘You’d better stand back!’ she heard one of the boys say. She realised that she should warn her father, but she could not pluck up the courage to leave her room. The flying car shot forward and Harry’s bars broke loose. Both the breaking and the bars falling into the yard gave quite a noise, and sure enough Julie heard her parents screaming and getting out of bed. ‘Potter!’ Vernon screamed and Julie heard him fiddling with the lock on her cousin’s door, while the boys quickly loaded Harry’s trunk into the car. Julie realised that her father should have locked Harry’s stuff into the cupboard before locking him up in his room. She then heard how her father slammed the door open. ‘Petunia, he’s escaping!’ Julie saw through her window how her father grabbed Harry’s leg as he was trying to get inside the car, and how the redheads all started to pull Harry in. ‘Let go of me!’ Harry screamed. ‘Oh no, boy! You and that bloody pigeon aren’t going anywhere!’ ‘Get off!’ The car abruptly started flying away, causing Vernon to fall out the window. Horrified, Julie saw how her father landed in some bushes, and then she quickly looked once more at the car that was now flying away rapidly. The muffler shone in the night, all of Privet Drive heard a deafening noise when the boys stepped on the gas pedal with the clutch down, as if they wanted to make clear that they existed, so nobody would doubt that, since that what does not reflect does not exist. 

When the car was all but gone, Julie rushed downstairs to see if her father was okay. Thankfully he was perfectly fine, and when Petunia got him inside Julie made him a cup of tea. He ranted on about what had just happened, and Julie could not help but feel somewhat impressed by Harry’s friends. And that he had friends in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

This time it was only Vernon who came to pick Harry up from the station. ‘Julie’s broken her leg during gymnastics practice,’ he said, ‘so this time we’re actually happy to have you back. You’re going to take care of her, to relieve your aunt.’ At first Harry did not buy it, he knew for a fact that when they were in primary school she would sometimes fake being sick or hurt to stay home and get pampered by her mother. However, when he walked into her room that evening, carrying a tray of food and drinks, he realised immediately that she was not faking anything. She was lying in her electrically adjustable double bed, with her hurt leg above the blanket. The blue cast was rather big and people had written on it. On the bedside table were various get well cards and empty cans. When he entered the room, Julie looked up. She tossed her celebrity magazine aside and smiled at him.

‘Harry! I’m actually so glad to see you. You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together this summer.’ ‘Why’s that?’ Harry asked, while handing her the tray. Julie carefully placed it onto her lap and then pulled out a whistle from under her shirt, attached to a cord around her neck. ‘You see, you get to be my servant during my recovery! Whenever I blow this whistle you’ll come and do my bidding. Pretty neat, huh?’ Harry sighed. He hated his summer already, and he had only just arrived. Julie was still smiling at him. ‘Come on, between you and me you’ve always been my favourite cousin.’ ‘Is that perhaps because I’m your only cousin?’ ‘Well, yes, but that doesn’t make it any less true, does it?’ Harry said nothing. He looked around the room. Julie’s bed was right next to the window, from which she had a view over the garden with the swimming pool. In front of her bed was the plasma screen TV she had been given for losing her second bedroom to Harry. Underneath the screen were a video player and a gaming console. Next to her bed laid some books and candy wrappers. She had a big desk with a PC and an ever bigger wardrobe. There were various posters of bands Harry did not know, and on the shelves were her school books and various gymnastics pennons. Julie had the biggest room in the house but still it was barely big enough to keep all of her stuff. ‘You’ve never been into my room before, have you? At least I hope not’ she asked with her mouth full of food. ‘No, because you said you’d murder me in my sleep if I did.’ ‘Oh, yeah, right, I forgot.’ Harry looked at her leg. ‘How did that happen anyway? You know, when people say break a leg they don’t actually mean you should.’ Julie rolled her eyes. ‘You’re only the tenth person to make that joke. It’s really none of your business, but fine, I’ll tell you. I was training for a big competition with my personal coach at Smeltings and tried to land a complicated flip. Emphasis on ‘tried’, because upon landing my leg buckled and bended just below the knee. And yes, that hurt. They immediately took me to the hospital. I hate that place with a passion, it reminds me of that feather surgery.’ Harry would definitely not have wished this on her, but at the same time he did not mind that she was now incapable of bullying him like she normally would have done.

The first time Julie used the whistle was early in the afternoon on the next day. The sound echoed throughout the entire house and quickly made its way into Harry’s ears. He groaned and went to Julie’s room. ‘Ah, glad you could make it’ Julie said when he had stepped inside. She paused the movie she was watching and looked at him. ‘Well, it’s not like I have much of a choice, do I?’ Harry asked grudgingly. Julie raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s not true, specky. In life you always have a choice, as long as you’re okay with the resulting consequences. Which, in your case, would be being locked up in your room.’ She smiled smugly at him when saying those last couple of words. ‘What do you need?’ Harry asked. ‘I want you to refill my jug of lemonade, and make sure to put some ice cubes in there. I also want a new glass and a new straw, and while you’re at it, you can bring me a big cheese sandwich with tomato.’ Harry sighed. ‘Do you also want me to bake you a pizza?’ he said. ‘No, that’s okay, I’m not that hungry’ Julie said, apparently not noticing the sarcasm. Harry went downstairs, wishing she would recover as quickly as possible. When he handed her the tray a few minutes later, she made quick work of the sandwich and then yawned long and loudly without covering her mouth. ‘All right, it’s time for my beauty sleep, so you can go and do whatever Harry’s do for a few hours.’ That was of course fine with him; asleep was when he liked her most.

After a while, Julie would sometimes prefer to lie on the living room couch rather than staying in her bedroom all the time. During the day she would usually watch nature documentaries and funny sitcoms, while in the evening just before bed she would watch a movie. Sometimes Harry would watch with her, and they would occasionally have little discussions about what they were seeing. Julie would never admit it, but sometimes she actually enjoyed his company. Her parents would sometimes treat her like a baby even though she was now officially a teenager, and she felt it a nice change to spar with someone.

The days went by like that, and except for one Sunday afternoon nothing special happened. Julie was reading a book on the couch, Harry was studying (when taking care of Julie he was allowed one school book at a time), Petunia was dusting the shelves and Vernon was doing some administrative work when the phone rang. ‘Vernon Dursley speaking.’ ‘HELLO, HELLO, CAN YOU HEAR ME, THIS IS RON WEASLEY, I WANT TO SPEAK TO HARRY POTTER!’ Ron’s voice came blasting in the room. Vernon dropped the phone, Petunia shrieked, Julie dropped her book in shock and Harry froze. ‘HELLO, HELLO, I’M A FRIEND OF HARRY’S FROM SCHOOL!’ could be heard from the now dangling phone. Vernon grabbed it. ‘DON’T EVER CALL THIS NUMBER AGAIN!’ he shouted and he promptly hung up. ‘Haha, ouch!’ Julie screamed. ‘You!’ Vernon pointed at Harry, ‘how dare you give our number to your fellow freaks!’ He grabbed his nephew’s arm and dragged him outside, into the yard, to scream his head off. A few minutes later they came back inside. Julie smiled at Harry. ‘Your friend doesn’t know how a telephone works? What an idiot!’ She began laughing. Maybe Harry was biased, but he had always hated her laugh with a passion; she laughed like a hyena and sometimes the sound would get stuck in his head for a few minutes.

By the time it was Harry’s birthday, Julie had made a full recovery, but if Harry thought his summer would now be peaceful he was sadly mistaken. The Dursleys were having breakfast, completely ignoring the fact that it was his birthday. They did not even acknowledge him, but kept their eyes on the news. The television was brand-new, bought to celebrate the fact that Julie had healed. ‘Convict Black is armed and dangerous, and nobody should approach him. Should you see him, notify the police immediately.’ A picture of Black was shown. ‘Ew!’ Julie said, putting down her fork. ‘I’d smell from hundred miles away that that guy is no good,’ Vernon scoffed, ‘anyway, I’d better get going, Marge should be arriving at the station soon.’ ‘What? Aunt Marge? She’s coming?’ Harry asked before he had even realised it, ‘nobody told me!’ ‘Yes, boy, and she’s staying till Friday’ Vernon said. Today was Monday, so she would be staying a good five days. ‘We told her you go to St Brutus’s Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys and you’d better stick to that story.’ 

Harry sighed. He wondered how he was going to survive aunt Marge for almost a whole week. She was Vernon’s sister, but Harry had always been forced to call her ‘aunt’. She loved nothing more than to criticise him. The last time Harry had seen her was on Julie’s tenth birthday, the year before he went to Hogwarts, and he had stepped on her bulldog’s (aunt Marge bred dogs for a living) tail. It had subsequently chased him up a tree, and aunt Marge had refused to call it back until midnight. The Dursleys and particularly Julie, who actually thought Marge’s dogs were gross, still found that a hilarious story.

Vernon put on his coat. ‘Are you coming with me to the station, Julie?’ ‘No.’ ‘All right, I’ll be back soon.’ He left. Harry gloomily helped himself to one last piece of toast. ‘Aw, cheer up scarface, you won’t even need to act, everyone’d believe you attend that St Brutus whatever’ Julie said, after seeing his depressed state. Harry did not respond. ‘Always look on the bright side of life. Oh wait, in your life there’s none.’ She smirked and turned her attention back to the television.

About an hour later (even though it felt like one minute), Harry heard Vernon’s car pull up the driveway. ‘Open the door!’ Petunia hissed and so he did, feeling he just opened the gates of hell. Vernon and Marge came walking in, and Marge immediately thrusted her heavy suitcase in Harry’s arms. ‘Petunia!’ she screamed and she slammed her lips onto Petunia’s cheeks. They started making their way to the living room, and Vernon told Harry to take Marge’s suitcase to the guest bedroom. He did not mind that at all; any second away from Marge was a bonus. He spent as much time as possible, but then he was forced to go down to the living room as well. He entered just in time to see Julie happily tuck away a £50 note. The family sat down for tea and Harry reluctantly joined them. It was then that Marge first directed her attention to him. ‘So, still here, I see?’ she asked. ‘Yes.’ ‘Yes,’ she imitated him, ‘you should be grateful they took you in.’ Harry said nothing, he did not want to rise to the bait, especially since Vernon had promised him to sign his Hogsmeade permission form if he behaved well and stuck to their story. ‘Where is it you sent him to?’ she asked Vernon. ‘Er, St Brutus’s Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys’ Vernon said hastily. ‘Isn’t that right, boy?’ he added, looking at his nephew. ‘Oh, yes, sure’ Harry said. ‘I see,’ Marge said slowly, ‘and do they practise physical punishment there?’ Next to her Harry saw Vernon nodding furiously. ‘Yes, they do, I’ve been beaten loads of times’ Harry said. ‘Good, it’ll help you in the long run. Sometimes a good beating’s the only thing that works with such hopeless cases. Could you pour me another cup of tea, please, Petunia?’

The next day Marge took the two children out shopping. Harry really did not want to go and Julie did not want Harry to come, but Marge insisted that he would come so that he could carry the shopping bags. Also Marge liked the idea of spoiling Julie while completely ignoring Harry. By the time they got lunch, Harry was already carrying two very heavy shopping bags. Marge ordered big portions for herself and her niece, while Harry got nothing more than a basic cheese sandwich and a glass of water. Harry considered himself lucky Marge did not scold or criticise him in public, chatting happily with Julie instead. When she went to the lavatory, Julie started complaining. ‘Such big portions… how am I supposed to finish all that?’ she said plaintively. It was true, she had only finished half of her salad. Harry did not respond; he knew all too well that she was trying to provoke him. After lunch they continued shopping. He sat outside on a bench while Marge and Julie entered what felt like the 100th shop and wished for the day to come to an end. He was feeling so miserable that he had not noticed Julie walking out of the shop. She sat down right next to him, so close that their knees touched, and shoved something in his face. 

‘Look, aunt Marge bought me a cell phone! Wanna see what it can do?’ ‘No’ Harry said, pushing Julie’s arm down so that she lowered the phone. ‘All right, well, it can’t just make phone calls but it also comes with a pager, a calculator, an address book, a fax machine and even an e-mail device!’ she said excitedly, completely ignoring Harry’s answer. ‘Julie, I really don’t care, okay?’ Harry said, wiping the sweat off his forehead that was the result of carrying the shopping bags. ‘And I don’t care that you don’t care’ she said pleasantly. Harry sighed and looked down at the ground. He was feeling hot and sweaty. ‘Hey, are you feeling all right?’ Julie asked. Harry did not answer. She waved her hand in front of his face. ‘Please don’t ignore me when I’m taunting you, that’s rude.’ Harry glared at her. ‘I’m carrying heavy shopping bags in the blazing sun while being out with two of the most awful people I know, and one of them is now showing off her newest present. Why wouldn’t I be all right?’ he told her irritably. Julie seemed to be taken aback a bit. She gave the zipper of her sweater a little tweak and put the phone back in her purse. ‘Well, if it’s any consolation, I don’t like aunt Marge either, I just like her expensive gifts’ she said after a few seconds. ‘I know, Julie, you can fool your parents and her, but not me’ Harry said. ‘Fair enough, but I don’t like that she insults you all the time, that’s my job.’ Julie got up. ‘I’ll carry one of those bags, all right? I reckon we’ll be going home soon anyway.’ ‘Er, thanks Julie’ Harry said as he got to his feet as well. ‘Just make sure not to do any accidental you-know-what when she’s scolding you again, she’s not worth it, trust me.’ ‘I know, if only I could just stay in my room all day but she insists that I join you all the time.’ ‘Er, just try to think about something that makes you happy when she’s talking,’ Julie said, ‘like, I don’t know, maybe your friends or your favourite food.’ Harry nodded. ‘I’ll try, thanks.’ Julie took hold of one of the bags, but promptly used it to hit Harry on the knee. ‘Ow! What was that for?!’ ‘Don’t think I’m going soft’ she said, but she did inadvertently smile a little. At that moment Marge came walking out of the store and spotted Julie carrying one of the shopping bags. ‘Er, Harry was feeling a bit tired’ Julie said before she could ask anything. Marge shot Harry a disdainful look. ‘Weak, aren’t we? Just when I started to think I found you a purpose in life. Well, let’s go home.’

That evening they were having dinner. Marge had just finished asking about Julie’s school and her gymnastics and was very satisfied with the answers. She instantly made a comparison to Harry. ‘You know, boy, if you could only do one per cent of what your cousin can, you’d already have been much better off.’ ‘Well, everyone’s got different talents’ Julie said hesitantly, casting Harry a glance. ‘Normal people, perhaps,’ Marge said, ‘what talent does he have?’ ‘Well, he brings out your most creative insults, doesn’t he?’ Julie said with a polite smile. ‘I don’t know if telling the truth is an insult per se. It’s the same with dogs, sometimes they’re just rotten and nothing will help. Please don’t feel like you failed or anything,’ she looked at Vernon and Petunia, ‘when there’s something wrong with the bitch there’ll be something wrong with the pup.’ At this point Harry felt pretty angry, but he managed to keep himself together. Marge looked at Petunia. ‘Again, don’t feel bad. It wasn’t your fault that you had a rotten sister who married some scoundrel.’ 

Suddenly the wine glass she was holding broke. Except from Harry, everybody started speaking. ‘It’s all right, it’s all right, I just have a strong grip!’ Marge said loudly, but the Dursleys all looked at Harry suspiciously. ‘Er, aunt Marge, maybe you could share us another funny childhood story?’ Julie asked, trying to relieve the tension. ‘Not now, dear’ Marge told her with a smile, before turning back to Harry. ‘Your parents were a pair of losers and so are you, boy.’ Suddenly she gasped for air and her body started to swell up. She started screaming, which quickly turned into squealing, while the Dursleys were all watching in shock. Before long, she rose up from her chair and hit the ceiling. To make matters worse, the cool summer breeze coming in through the open backdoor started to suck her outside like a gigantic human balloon. A lot of things then happened at once. Julie ran to the door to close it, Vernon tried to grab his sister, Petunia stood there dumbstruck and Harry ran away furiously. Using magic, he opened up his cupboard, quickly grabbed his belongings, went to his room where he shoved everything in his trunk and went back downstairs where he found Vernon waiting for him. ‘YOU GO AND TURN HER RIGHT!’ he screamed at Harry. ‘No,’ he said quietly, ‘now get out of the way, I’m going.’ ‘You’re not going anywhere, boy!’ Harry then pointed his wand at his uncle, who looked shocked for a second but then a grin spread across his face. ‘Ha! You’re not allowed to use magic outside of school, I know that.’ ‘I just did, so a little more wouldn’t hurt. Now get out of my way!’ He wrestled himself past his uncle and ran outside, into the cool night.

Vernon tied his sister to the table with a rope, while Julie watched the scene. ‘Well, that happened’ she said. ‘What are we supposed to do now, Vernon? We can’t take her to the hospital’ Petunia said worried. ‘Maybe if we pierce her with a needle, she’ll go back to normal’ Julie suggested. ‘Don’t you dare!’ aunt Marge squeaked, ‘call a doctor!’ The Dursleys knew that was not an option, but then the doorbell rang. Hesitantly, Vernon made his way to the door and opened it just a little, so that the other side could not see the scene in the living room. ‘Hello, my name is Johnson and this is Saunders, we’re members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. We got word accidental magic has occurred in this residence, and we’re here to fix it.’ Vernon was actually very relieved to see these wizards on his doorstep. ‘Oh, yes, yes, please come in!’ he said and he let them inside. They saw aunt Marge and turned her back to normal within a few seconds. After that they obliviated her memory. ‘Er, sirs, will the person who did this be punished?’ Julie asked tentatively. ‘Maybe, it’s not us who decide’ one of the men said curtly. They did not linger; all in all their stay had taken about a minute. Julie realised that this had been quite the event, but unfortunately she could not tell anyone about it.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry felt pretty good when he stepped back through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters alongside Ron and Hermione. Sure, it would take two months before he would go back to Hogwarts, but now he had a godfather to write to, his Hogsmeade permission form signed and Ron had said something about the Quidditch World Cup. Harry would also make sure to mention that his godfather was a convicted murderer, and omit the fact that he was actually innocent. That would surely scare the Dursleys. Speaking of the Dursleys, Harry looked around, but they were nowhere to be seen.

‘Harry!’ Mrs Weasley called after she had greeted her own children, and she hugged him. ‘How nice to see you again!’ ‘Hello Mrs Weasley’ Harry said with a smile. ‘Isn’t your family here yet?’ Mr Weasley asked. ‘No’ Harry said, looking around once more. ‘Well, I’m sure they’ll be here soon’ Mr Weasley said. ‘Goodbye everyone! See you soon!’ Hermione called and she waved. They all waved back at her and watched her walk away with her parents. The platform gradually became less crowdy as students met up with their parents and left, but there was still no sign of the Dursleys. ‘Maybe they’ve forgotten’ Ginny said. ‘That’d be very irresponsible of them’ Mrs Weasley said. Mr Weasley looked at Harry. ‘Do you want us to wait with you?’ ‘Well, if it’s not too much trouble’ Harry said hesitantly. He did not like the idea of making them all wait, but at the same time he was becoming increasingly worried. ‘Of course it’s not’ Mrs Weasley smiled at him. Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, then twenty. While Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were discussing the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, Harry kept looking around. Then suddenly he got an idea. ‘I’ll try to call them.’ ‘With a fellytone?’ Ron asked. ‘I know how to use them now’ he said proudly, but nobody responded. 

Harry rummaged in his trunk for a bit, until he had found some Muggle money. ‘Be right back’ he said and he made his way to the payphones. He threw in a coin and dialed the Dursley’s number. The phone rang one time, two times, three times, four times and just when his heart sank he heard a voice. ‘Hello, Dursley residence.’ Harry had never been so happy to hear his cousin’s voice before. ‘Julie! Hello! It’s Harry. I’m at King’s Cross Station. Why didn’t your parents come pick me up?’ Julie said nothing for a few seconds. ‘Oh. Was that today?’ ‘Yes! Did you forget?’ ‘Ehm, you see, the thing is, aunt Marge’s very ill and my parents are at her place at the moment. I guess that in their worries they indeed forgot about you’ Julie said. ‘How come you’re home then?’ Harry asked. ‘Well, duh, I mean, aunt Marge can’t really give me any presents when she’s ill, can she?’ Julie said. Harry sighed. ‘When do you reckon your parents will be home?’ ‘No idea’ Julie said unhelpfully. ‘Well, since I’m basically stuck here, can you come and get me?’ Harry hated to ask but he felt he had no choice. ‘Oh. Well, Harry, you know I’d love to, but I’m extremely busy at the moment, you see.’ ‘With what?’ ‘Well, considering I was going to be alone for a great portion of the evening, I rented a few movies and I just started watching’ Julie said. Harry had to contain his anger. ‘But if you don’t come, I’ll be stranded. I don’t have enough money to get back myself.’ ‘Sounds like a personal problem to me, scarface’ Julie said. ‘Julie, please.’ ‘Oh, I like that. Tell you what. I’ll come if you beg me to’ Julie said nastily. Harry said nothing. ‘Suit yourself, twat, goodbye!’ ‘Julie, wait! All right. What do you want me to say?’ Julie laughed. ‘Wise choice! Say, hm, my cousin Julie is the prettiest, awesomest girl on the planet and superior to me in every way imaginable.’ ‘My cousin Julie is the prettiest, awesomest girl on the planet and superior to me in every way imaginable’ Harry said grudgingly. He felt his blood boil. ‘Sorry, didn’t hear that’ Julie said. Harry said it again. Two women standing near him looked at him and smiled. ‘Ahhh, one more time, scarface!’ Harry said it again. ‘Now will you come get me?’ ‘No, of course not, are you stupid?’ Harry sighed, feeling incredibly frustrated and worried. But then Julie sighed as well and spoke again. ‘All right. I told you I would, and I always keep my word. I’ll be there in an hour, I guess.’ Harry felt incredibly relieved. ‘Okay, thank you Julie.’ ‘Don’t flatter yourself. If something happens to you, I’ll be out of a job.’

He walked back to the Weasleys. ‘I just spoke to my cousin Julie. Apparently my uncle’s sister is ill and my uncle and aunt went to take care of her. Julie stayed home and I managed to convince her to come pick me up.’ ‘Is the sick aunt the aunt you blew up last year?’ Ginny asked, but Mrs Weasley hissed at her to be quiet. ‘She should be here in an hour’ Harry concluded. ‘All right,’ Mrs Weasley said, ‘shall we wait with you until she’s here?’ ‘That’s very kind, Mrs Weasley, but I’ll be fine now’ Harry said with a smile. ‘Are you sure? What if she won’t show up? There’s no telling when your uncle and aunt will be able to come, and I hope you don’t mind me saying, but your cousin doesn’t really seem like a very reliable person’ Mrs Weasley said carefully. ‘Let’s stay, we don’t mind at all’ Fred and George said. Harry knew they would love to meet Julie; he had told them a lot about her. ‘It’s really no problem, dear. We’ll be worried about you if we don’t see you off.’ ‘Yes, mate. Don’t even worry about it’ Ron said. ‘All right, thank you’ Harry said. He really appreciated it.

About an hour later Harry spotted his cousin trying to make her way through the crowd. He put up his hand and she nodded at him. However, when she saw his company, she stopped abruptly and motioned for him to come. ‘She doesn’t seem too keen on meeting us’ Fred said. ‘That’s because she’s terrified of anything related to magic’ Harry said. ‘That’s so weird’ George said. ‘Well, actually, not really’ Harry said with a smirk. ‘Well, it seems you’ll be in, er, good hands now’ Mr Weasley said, looking at Julie annoyingly standing in the middle of the platform so that people had to wrestle themselves past her. ‘Sort of. Thank you for waiting, that was really kind’ Harry said. ‘Don’t worry dear, just look out for our letter’ Mrs Weasley said with a smile. Harry nodded once more and then walked to his cousin. 

‘You didn’t say a whole entourage was included’ she said immediately, casting a final glance at the Weasleys. ‘Hello to you too’ Harry said. ‘Let’s just get out of here. I’ll take your bird.’ She took Hedwig’s cage, but as soon as she did the owl started screeching. ‘Or not’ Julie said, handing him back the cage immediately. ‘Ungrateful flying rat.’ She walked away and Harry clumsily followed. While they got into the subway, Julie kept looking around. ‘Everyone’s staring at us, I just hope we won’t run into anyone I know.’ It was true; like always Hedwig drew a lot of attention. There was one empty seat left and Julie quickly claimed it. Next to her sat a young couple a few years older than them, who were mumbling and giggling together. Julie made eye contact with Harry, looked at the couple quickly and carefully and then rolled her eyes. ‘This movie got very good reviews’ the boy suddenly told his girlfriend. ‘What movie are you going to see?’ Julie intruded. The girl told her the name of the movie. ‘Ah yeah, I’ve seen that one. I mostly liked the part when…’ She revealed the entire plot and the couple groaned in annoyance. ‘It’s a good movie though, you’re in for a treat!’ Julie said with a sweet smile and then got up, because their stop was next.

Darkness had fallen by the time they set foot on Privet Drive, and Harry was feeling tired. He could not wait to get to his room. When Julie opened the door, they were immediately greeted by her parents. ‘Oh Jewel, we’re so sorry you had to go pick him up! We’ll make this up to you, don’t worry.’ Petunia hugged her daughter, who cowered a little. ‘We’re so proud of you.’ ‘It wasn’t that big of a deal, mum’ Julie mumbled, feeling embarrassed by the praise. ‘Yeah, boy, I’m sure you’ll understand that you were off our minds for a bit. Aunt Marge’s ill’ Vernon said. The hall was way too small for all four of them and Harry felt uncomfortable. ‘I know, Julie told me.’ While Julie was taken to the kitchen for a cold drink, Harry took his stuff to his room and fell asleep almost instantly.

This summer was a particularly good one for Harry. He had indeed told the Dursleys that the escaped convict from last summer was actually a wizard and his godfather. They were sceptical at first, but Harry showed them one of Sirius’s letters. ‘You know, he likes to make sure I’m doing okay’ Harry said pleasantly. After that, the Dursleys mostly ignored him, which he was fine with. He did his homework and corresponded with his friends, who (unlike the Dursleys) gave him nice birthday presents. Sometimes he even took dips in Julie’s pool, to which she did not (dare to) object. The days went by peacefully, until one morning in August.

They were having breakfast when Julie came walking into the kitchen with the mail. ‘Aunt Marge sent you a letter, daddy’ she said, handing her father a letter. ‘And Harry,’ she said, looking at him, ‘the Weasel family is inviting you to the, er…’ (she looked at the letter) ‘Quidditch World Cup'. Did I pronounce that correctly?’ She smiled at him. ‘Give me that letter!’ Harry said at once, but Julie held it up, revealing an exorbitant amount of post stamps. ‘Look at this. I bet this came from the same lunatics who made that phone call last year.’ ‘Julie, give me that letter’ Vernon demanded immediately while Harry looked at Julie angrily. ‘Why did you open someone else’s mail? Where are your manners?’ ‘In my butt,’ she said, still smiling, ‘you can’t blame me for wanting to know who sent it, after that.’ She pointed at the stamps. Vernon had finished reading. ‘Who are these people?’ he asked his nephew, but it was Julie who responded. ‘I’ve seen them at the station, daddy. They all have red hair and were dressed in rags. They’re one of those families with more children than they can afford. There are ways to prevent that, you know.’ ‘There are also ways to mind your own business’ Harry said angrily, but he knew Julie was immune when in the presence of her parents. ‘You,’ Vernon said, looking at Harry, ‘living room, now.’ Julie smirked; she was sure Harry was about to be told off and she loved it. A few minutes later her father and Harry came back into the kitchen. Much to Julie’s shock, Harry seemed ecstatic about something. ‘All right, so, some family is going to take the boy to some World Cup nonsense. As I don’t have time to drop him off somewhere, they’ll come and get him tomorrow.’ Petunia and Julie looked shocked. ‘Those people? In our house?’ Petunia asked incredulously. ‘It’s all right, they’ll take the boy and go’ Vernon said.

That evening Harry already packed all of his stuff. He could not believe his luck; he was actually going to the final of the Quidditch World Cup! At first Vernon had been hesitant to let him go, but when Harry casually mentioned his godfather his uncle no longer dared to say no. He wondered how the Weasleys would make their way to Privet Drive. Mr Weasley would probably borrow a car from the Ministry again, that would make the most sense. He went outside where he found Julie doing laps in the pool, sat down in the chair he had made her fall off of three years ago and smiled to himself. ‘Hey!’ Julie called. She had come to a halt with her arms resting on the edge of the pool. ‘How are those people going to get here?’ ‘I don’t know’ Harry said. ‘Let me guess, they drive some old banger that’ll break down in the middle of nowhere. Actually, that’s more of a hope than a guess.’ Harry said nothing, he had too good a mood to let her spoil it. ‘Don’t get me wrong, though. I don’t mind you leaving so soon. What is that World Cup thingy exactly?’ Harry sighed. ‘Quidditch is a sport, played on broomsticks. Why do you care, though?’ ‘Just curious, that’s all’ she said, and she turned around to swim a few more laps.

The next day all three of the Dursleys were very nervous and they could not sit still or focus on something. Petunia had cleaned the house about three times and Julie had made sure that all of her precious belongings were safely tucked away in her room. The letter the Weasleys had sent had mentioned 5 PM, but at about 3 PM they were already as ready as they could be. Harry found their nervousness strangely amusing.

Vernon had put on his best suit, but Petunia and Julie had not made a special effort. Julie contemplated staying in her room all the time, as her last encounter with a wizard had resulted in her arms being covered with feathers and her parents having to pay for a removal at a private hospital in London. However, she did not want Harry to think she was scared and so she decided not to hide. She was also not afraid to admit that she was kind of curious about Harry’s friends, considering she had made sure that he never had any in primary school. She wondered if they were just as weird as he was.

It was a quarter to five and everyone was sitting in the living room, waiting anxiously for the Weasleys’ arrival. Harry felt he could cut the tension with a knife, and therefore he went to sit on the stairs in the hallway. He hoped that the Dursleys would not be too rude to the Weasleys. At 5 PM he went back into the living room, where the Dursleys sat in front of the TV without it being on. Vernon and Petunia kept looking out the window, while Julie nervously took sips of her tea. There was no sign of the Weasleys, however, and soon it had become a quarter past five. Vernon and Petunia started mumbling. ‘No consideration… maybe they think they can join us for dinner…’ BOOM! An explosion came from behind the electric fireplace, that subsequently shattered into pieces. The Dursleys started screaming and a man and three boys appeared, all red-headed. ‘Ouch! Sorry about that, it didn’t occur to me that we’d face any obstacles. Don’t worry, I’ll fix it before we go!’ the man said. ‘You must be Harry’s uncle and aunt!’ He stretched out his hand, but Vernon and Petunia were too scared to shake hands; they backed away a bit. Ron, Fred and George were examining the living room with benign interest, until their gaze rested on Julie, who was sitting on the couch and determined not to look back. 

‘Hello, Harry!’ said Mr Weasley happily, ‘are you ready to go?’ ‘Yes, my trunk’s upstairs’ Harry said. ‘We’ll get it’ Fred and George said and they quickly left the room. Julie looked after them, worried they would enter her room. She had recognized the boys as the same who had come to pick Harry up with the flying car two years ago. She looked around and her eyes met Ron’s, who turned a little red. She inadvertently smiled at him before she looked away. Mr Weasley did a brave attempt to break the awkward silence. ‘Well, nice place you got here’ he said as he looked around. Harry knew he would have loved to examine the television and the video recorder. Mr Weasley pointed at them, as the Weasley twins re-entered the room with Harry’s trunk. ‘They are powered by elicitytrek, aren’t they? I can see the plugs. I collect plugs.’ The twins rolled their eyes and Vernon still did not say anything. He clearly thought Mr Weasley was out of his mind. ‘I work with that kind of stuff, you see, to prevent people from misusing those kinds of things.’ Suddenly Julie snorted. ‘Ha! That’s supposed to be a job?’ she asked mockingly with a nasty smile. She earned herself angry looks from all of the Weasley boys, while Mr Weasley actually went slightly red. ‘You’re Harry’s cousin, right?’ ‘I am.’ ‘Are you having a nice holiday?’ ‘Er, it’s all right, I guess.’ Seeing that this conversation was also going nowhere, Mr Weasley turned to Harry. ‘Well, let’s go then.’ He took out his wand (the Dursleys again backed away a bit), and made flames appear in the fireplace.

‘You first, George’ he said. ‘Okay, oh no…’ A bag of sweets fell out of his pocket and within a second the entire living room floor was covered with them. Harry and Julie instinctively got up to collect them all, and Fred moved close to the couch to collect the last toffees. Julie quickly handed him the sweets; she wanted the Weasleys out as soon as possible. The Weasleys then moved to the fireplace. Fred, George and Ron had already disappeared in the flames and Harry was about to, when suddenly everyone heard a loud popping noise followed by the breaking of a tea cup. Julie started screaming; she had taken a sip of her tea, and now her nose was growing at a rapid pace. Within seconds her nose was about 5 ft long, and it did not stop there. ‘Not to worry, I can sort her out!’ Mr Weasley screamed, moving closer to Julie with his wand out. Vernon bellowed and Petunia, who screamed almost as loud as her daughter, tried to shield her from Mr Weasley. ‘It’s a simple process! My son Fred must’ve poured something in her drink, but I can fix it in a jiffy if you just let me!’ The nose kept growing; it started knocking stuff over and Julie screamed worse than ever. Vernon lost control of his emotions and started throwing china figures at Mr Weasley. ‘Please stop that! I’m trying to help! Harry, go, I’ll sort this out!’ Harry hesitantly stepped into the fire (he would rather have stayed and watch the fun), casting the scene one last look. Julie’s nose appeared to have stopped growing, but it was now about 16 ft long, Petunia was still on top of her and Mr Weasley dodged another ornament thrown by a furious Vernon. ‘The Burrow!’ he said loudly and he disappeared.

‘All right, do whatever you need to do to fix this’ Vernon said about a minute later. He had calmed down and realised Mr Weasley was probably their only hope. ‘Finally, thank you’ Mr Weasley said annoyedly; it did not happen every day that someone threw ornaments at his head. Petunia let go of her daughter, who looked terrified, but she too had stopped screaming. Mr Weasley had been right; it only took about two seconds to get Julie back to normal. She felt her nose and involuntarily mumbled ‘thank you’. Relief was one of world’s best feelings. ‘Don’t thank him, his rotten kids did this to you!’ Vernon said. ‘I’m really sorry, I’m sure it was just a joke, they’re always doing stuff like this’ Mr Weasley said apologetically. ‘Then raise them better’ Vernon snapped. Julie gave Mr Weasley one last look of terror before she quickly walked out of the room. Mr Weasley then fixed the damage that had been done when he arrived and was more than happy to leave Privet Drive through a curtain of green flames.


	5. Chapter 5

The summer thus far had been extraordinarily calm. It was hot and sweaty and general activity was low. The Dursleys were even weirder than usual. Julie hardly left the house and only laid in bed, staring at the ceiling while listening to music with her walkman; Harry had seen that a few times when she had left her door open. She did not bully him, in fact she did not even really acknowledge him, which he was fine with, but he still thought it was somewhat odd. Also, she usually did not wake up until very late in the afternoon, and watched TV throughout the night, which annoyed Harry deeply for his room was right next to hers. Vernon did not like her sleep pattern much. Quite out of character he had told his daughter several times that she had to be up and dressed at 11 AM, but she did not seem to care much. One Sunday afternoon, Harry witnessed an argument between Julie and her father, when he had told her off for showing up in the living room around 3 PM, wearing her pyjamas and dressing gown. That was weird, as Julie and her father were always really close; she had always been his little princess. Harry saw Julie during breakfast, if she was up, and dinner and then she hardly said a word. Petunia treated her like she was ill, while Vernon was a bit cold towards her.

Harry knew something must have happened within the family and he was admittedly quite curious, but his main focus had been on the news. He tried to watch it every night, wanting desperately to hear if something unusual had happened that could maybe be related to Voldemort. It was about two months ago that he had returned after all. The lack of news worried him a bit, and the fact that the letters he got from Ron, Hermione and Sirius were utterly useless did not help either. He got the impression that they were all at the same place, but the letters were full of noninformation.

One evening Harry anew got caught trying to hear the news. The Dursleys thought it was suspicious that he was so eager to hear the news (‘Julie couldn’t care less, like a normal teenager.’), and did not allow him to sit and watch with them. Therefore he was forced to find hiding spots, but today he got caught in the flowerbed. He had a short exchange of words with his uncle and then he wandered off. He walked around for a bit, trying to find discarded newspapers, until he stopped at the local playground where Julie had once pushed him off the slide when they were really young. He sat down on a swing set and thought for a while. 

Suddenly he heard voices and laughter. A group of teenagers walked past the playground. Harry recognized Julie and some of her childhood friends, whom had always liked to join in on bullying him. Apparently she had gotten bored of staring at the ceiling of her bedroom all day and went out. Harry noticed that her way of dressing had undergone a radical change; one of her shoulders was exposed and her bellybutton showed under her dark pink shirt. It struck him as rather rebellious and nothing like the way she used to dress, which was rather upper class. 

‘Did you already choose a new school, Julie?’ Harry heard one of her friends ask. ‘No, not yet, my parents are still trying to find the supposedly ‘best school’, whatever that means. I just want it to be close to home, I’ve got only three years to go anyway’ he heard his cousin say. So she was no longer enrolled at Smeltings? That was actually quite surprising to Harry; it was Vernon’s old school and very prestigious (too prestigious for him at least) and his uncle and aunt were always very proud to have Julie there. ‘Well, until tomorrow then, I guess? Same time?’ Julie asked the group. ‘Sure, my place, my parents are out’ a girl said. ‘All right, see you then.’ ‘Bye, Julie!’ ‘Nighty night!’ 

The group split and Harry got up from the swing set. He knew that he was not supposed to get home later than Julie and so he followed her. He picked up the pace and got close enough to hear her hum a song. ‘Hey, Juliebee!’ he said, catching up to her. She turned around. ‘Oh, hello there, scarface. What are you doing out?’ she asked. ‘Could ask you the same thing, don’t you stay in your bedroom all day? Well, at least you bothered to put on some clothes today’ Harry said. ‘I stay in my room all day so I don’t have to see your ugly mug’ she said. ‘Seriously, though, are you feeling all right?’ Harry asked her casually. ‘I’m feeling knackered, so it’d be nice if you could pipe down.’ They had started walking. Harry enjoyed the moment; it felt really good to vent his frustration of the lack of news on Julie. ‘So, you no longer study at Smeltings then?’ Harry asked her. She abruptly came to a halt and looked at him. ‘How do you know that?’ she asked, sounding shocked. ‘I overheard you and your friends at the playground. Let me guess, your grades were too bad and you’re not as good at gymnastics as people think?’ Harry asked nastily. The look Julie gave him was now nothing but furious. It seemed like she really had to restrain herself from slapping him. When she spoke she tried to sound calm and confident, but her voice shook a bit. 

‘Keep your nose out of my business, or you won’t have a nose to stick no place.’ They were now walking through a dark alleyway. ‘Oh, did I just strike a nerve? I’m sure your parents are mighty disappointed in you leaving Smeltings. But don’t worry, Julie, you could always go back to being a zoo animal, you were really good at that.’ Julie was now visibly trembling with rage; she even had tears in her eyes. ‘I’ve never done anything that mean to you. And at least I have parents, you twat!’ she spat. Now it was Harry who came to a halt. Realising that she was now in control, Julie went on. ‘If you still had them, I’m sure they’d hold your hand at night so you don’t squirm in bed screaming ‘don’t kill Cedric!’ ‘don’t kill Cedric!’.’ She grinned nastily while Harry was too taken aback to respond. ‘Who’s Cedric, your cute little boyfriend? You can try to deny this, but I heard you last night.’ ‘Julie, I’m warning you, never talk about that again!’ Harry said loudly. Now it was he who was furious. ‘Ah, so you can dish out, but can’t take it? I don’t know Cedric but he deserves better than…’ Before she could finish, Harry had grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against a wall. She barely had time to say ‘ow!’ before he had grabbed his wand. He poked her neck with its tip. ‘Do I make myself clear?! Want me to give you feathers again?!’ Harry screamed. ‘Let go of me, you freak! I’ll tell dad!’ Julie screeched. ‘Oh, running to daddy, are we?!’ Harry continued screaming. He felt fifteen years of bullying and torment from Julie boiling up inside of him. What he would give to curse her so badly that she would have to crawl home like an insect… After a few seconds Julie actually grinned at him. 

‘Who do you think you’re kidding? Curse me or whatever, it won’t change a thing.’ ‘It’ll change your face.’ ‘Maybe, but are you really going to throw your whole future away just because you’re mad at me? I thought you were smarter than that, Harry James Potter.’ Harry inadvertently lowered his wand. ‘That’s what I thought. Wise choice, scarface.’ Suddenly something changed. The noises in the distance faded away and it became much darker and colder. For a moment Harry thought he had performed magic without realising it, but Julie was unharmed. She too had noticed the change. 

‘What are you doing? Make it stop!’ she said. Harry let go of her and looked around. ‘Stop it right now, I mean it!’ she said, looking scared and angry at the same time. ‘Julie, shut up, I’m not doing anything! Stay close to me!’ Harry said. They could not be here, they just could not… Then suddenly Julie made it very personal, as in, she swiftly kicked him in his personal area. Completely taken off guard, Harry groaned, dropped his wand and fell to his knees. ‘I warned you!’ She then dashed away. ‘Julie… no… you’re running… straight into them!’ Harry groaned and at that exact same moment two Dementors appeared in his sight. Julie tripped and smacked onto the ground with a groan. She tried to get up, but found the cold overwhelming. Not only that, but she felt a sensation she had never felt before. It was like the wind had blown away all the colours in life, and she felt nothing but misery. Would she ever feel happy again? It became colder and colder until suddenly she felt like she had been transported to another place. She saw images flickering through her head, as if she was watching a movie, only this movie was not pleasant.

She was in her room at Smeltings, looking at pictures of her parents. She found it hard to be away from home almost all year. Being homesick was not her only problem, though. Her studies stressed her out and her grades (that had always been acceptable) had dropped significantly. Her best friend since four years old had moved to Australia and she felt lonely. She did not perform well in gymnastics either and in fact did not even like it anymore, mostly because she felt she always had to meet people’s expectations. For most of the school year she had to deal with stress and depression and would much rather just be home, in the comfort of her parents. Maybe the indulgent attitude of her parents had insufficiently prepared her for the mean sides of life. She did not recognize the person in the mirror; there was no confidence, no happiness to be seen in that stranger’s face. She somehow made it to the next year, but when she got home for the summer break she plucked up the courage and told her parents that she wanted to quit gymnastics and change to a local school. As expected, they did not take it too well. ‘We’ve invested so much into your gymnastics endeavours and got you a spot at a very prestigious school, you can’t just give that all up because of some moodiness!’ her father had said. Her mother had been more understanding and took her to see a psychiatrist, or a ‘soul scanner’ as Julie preferred to call them. She was diagnosed with serious anxiety issues and was given medication to keep her stress levels and depression under control. She took the pills, and they helped somewhat, but she did not feel like doing anything and ended up with a weird sleep pattern. Her father was still quite uncomprehending and Julie could sense that he was disappointed in her quitting gymnastics and leaving Smeltings, which was also a reason for stress and caused her to be more defiant. She occasionally felt bad about that, but was it really her fault? Life was very complicated sometimes… 

‘EXPECTO PATRONUM!’ Her cousin’s voice woke her up, or got her back to consciousness, or whatever it was. She saw something blue rushing towards her and the cold lifted immediately. She had never seen something so beautiful before. The light was reminiscent of a deer or a stag and it seemed to drive away whatever was attacking her. As sudden as it had entered her line of vision, as sudden did it disappear. She suddenly felt incredibly sad about that. She wanted it to stay, to keep her company, to make her feel safe. The memories (that was what she decided she had seen) had been so vivid that before she knew it she started crying. She sat up and buried her face in her arms and sobbed uncontrollably; it was like all of her misery had built up inside of her only to now all come out at once. 

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. ‘Julie? Are you all right? It’s over, they’re gone’ Harry said. He had never seen her that upset before. She lifted her face from her arms and leaned back against the wall. She had never liked to cry in Harry’s presence, but she could not control herself at all. She had definitely not been ready to be confronted with that awful memory like that. Harry stared at her. Even though he had been ready to jinx her a few minutes ago, he actually felt some sympathy for her now. He remembered all too well his first encounter with a Dementor. ‘Julie?’ he asked again and he offered her his hand to help her up, even though a part of him, especially his private parts, felt like leaving her there. She, however, seemed unwilling or unable to stand up. She sat there with her face buried in her arms once more, still crying. ‘W-what just h-happened?’ she whimpered and she looked up at him. ‘I’ll explain at home, let’s get out of here’ Harry said, and Julie, after drying her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, took his hand. He pulled her back on her feet, but had to grab her immediately as she lost her balance right away. Julie had stopped crying, but was now shivering even though she was not feeling cold and her legs were shaking to the point that she could not walk independently. She allowed Harry to put one of her arms around his neck so that he could support her (she was a bit shorter than he was so that was easy) and they slowly started walking home. ‘You didn’t… do that… did you?’ Julie asked feebly. ‘No, of course not’ Harry said. A million thoughts ran through his head. Why were there Dementors in Little Whinging? Why did they attack him and Julie?

They got home. Harry made Julie hold the garden fence so that he could ring the bell. A light went on in the hallway, the door was opened and Harry’s aunt appeared. ‘Jewel, is that you? I was worried, what…’ She abruptly stopped speaking when she saw Julie clinging on to the fence. Completely ignoring Harry, she rushed to her daughter, who suddenly let go and vomited loudly and in very dramatic fashion all over Petunia’s flowers. She then panted heavily and groaned. ‘Oh my goodness, Jewel, what happened?! Are you hurt?! You are covered in dirt! Vernon, come quick!’ That call proved unnecessary, though, for Vernon had heard his daughter vomiting. He too ignored Harry and together with Petunia they got Julie, who again could not walk by herself, inside and put her in an armchair. Harry tried to make use of the commotion by sneaking up to his room, but as soon as he had set one foot on the stairs he heard his uncle scream for him to come. Petunia had covered Julie in a blanket and gave her a cup of tea. ‘What happened, what did you do, boy?’ Vernon demanded at once. ‘Nothing’ Harry said. ‘Don’t lie! You think that’s normal?’ he pointed at his daughter, whose hands were shaking so violently that she could not properly hold her cup. ‘No, but I didn’t do that!’ Harry said. Suddenly an owl came flying into the room through an open window. It dropped a letter at Harry’s feet (‘Those bloody pigeons!’) and disappeared through the same window. Harry picked it up. ‘Read it aloud, boy’ Vernon said threateningly. Harry started reading:

‘Dear Mr Potter, we received word that you performed a Patronus Charm in the presence of a Muggle around 9:57 PM. This is a direct violation of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. Furthermore, as this is not your first breach, you have hereby been expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your presence will be required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 AM on the twelfth of August.’ 

Vernon grinned menacingly. ‘Justice…’ he mumbled. Harry could not speak. Expelled? A hearing? This could not be happening… ‘How come you are expelled if you didn’t use any you-know-what, boy?’ Vernon asked nastily, but it was Julie who answered. ‘He did use it, but it was only to drive away something evil. It wasn’t his fault.’ She had spoken those words quietly but firmly. Everyone was in shock, not in the least Harry. She had never defended him before, it was usually quite the opposite; she loved getting him in trouble. ‘He pointed his wand at me, and he shouldn’t have, but suddenly everything went dark and cold and I saw something… something bad. But Harry made it go away’ she said. Her parents looked at her as if she had just announced that she was going to climb Mount Everest. ‘Please don’t punish him, it wouldn’t be right’ she said, looking at nothing in particular. Still no one else spoke. Julie slowly got up. ‘I want to go to bed.’ ‘All right, Juliebee’ Petunia said softly. Julie walked out of the room, and Harry followed her. He was not called back this time. On the floor above, the two teenagers looked at each other. ‘Thank you for telling the truth’ Harry said. ‘Well, thank you for carrying me home. And that blue light was really beautiful’ Julie said. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments, and then Harry opened his bedroom door. ‘They aren’t really going to expel you, are they?’ Julie asked. To Harry’s surprise she sounded rather worried. ‘Well, I don’t know, I guess that’ll be decided at that hearing’ he said. ‘I see. And, er, Harry… I’m… I’m sorry that I kicked you.’ She looked at the ground when saying that, and Harry also did not quite know how to react. ‘Er, that’s okay.’ Well, good night.’ ‘Good night.’

The following night Harry was gone. The Dursleys had been invited to some show that did not actually exist, and by the time they got back Harry was not there anymore - only a letter stuck on the fridge explaining where he had gone. Various days went by, and once again Julie was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. She had no energy to do anything; maybe that was a side effect of her medication. She hoped that her new school would be a good one and that she would make new friends, and most of all that she would one day be happy with herself again.


	6. Chapter 6

King’s Cross station, June 26, 1996

The Dursleys had gotten to the station relatively late, and by the time they made it to platforms 9 and 10 a lot of students had passed them already. They had obviously expected to find Harry there, but what they had not expected was that he seemed to be accompanied by a group of people. There was a man with a bowler hat and a staff, a woman with long pink hair and a man with grey hair and a long overcoat. The three Dursleys also saw the red-haired family they had had the displeasure of meeting before, and Julie got a bit frightened at the sight of the twins, standing there in what seemed like brand-new green jackets.

Harry spotted the Dursleys and walked towards them, with his entourage following suit. The group consisted of the three people the Dursleys had noticed first, as well as the red-haired man, one of his sons and a girl whom were both about as old as Julie. She inadvertently took a step backwards when the group came to a halt right before them. ‘Good afternoon, my name’s Mr Weasley. You might remember me’ the red-haired man said. They surely did; it did not happen every day that a wizard came to their house only to cause a substantial amount of damage. Furthermore, Julie had seen him twice already. Her father did not say anything, but his eyes narrowed. ‘We wanted to talk to you about Harry’ Mr Weasley said, smiling politely. ‘Yeah, about how he’s treated when he’s at your place’ the man with the bowler hat joined in. Petunia looked terrified and Julie tried to avoid eye contact with every member of the group, looking down at her sneakers instead, but Vernon did not budge. ‘I’m afraid that it’s none of your business what goes on in my house.’ ‘And I’m afraid that we’ll check on Harry if we hear he’s being treated horribly, and we’ll definitely hear about it’ the pink-haired woman said, smiling but sounding somewhat ominous. ‘Yeah, and then you’ll have us to answer to’ the man with the bowler hat said. ‘Are you threatening me?’ Vernon said loudly, and Julie wished that he would just say ‘okay’ so that they could get out of there. ‘Yes, I am’ the man said pleasantly and he revealed a revolving magical eye. Julie and Petunia gasped, and Vernon actually jumped backwards. ‘So, Potter,’ the man addressed Harry, ‘let us know if you need us. We’ll send someone along to check on you if we don’t hear from you.’ Julie strongly hoped that that would never actually happen, and the thought alone made Petunia whimper a little. Much to the Dursleys’ relief, the group then all said goodbye to Harry, with some of them touching his shoulder. After waving at the group once more, Harry turned around and the Dursleys hastily followed him out of the station.

Three days prior to that frightening encounter, it had been Julie’s sweet sixteen. That Sunday there was a big pool party at 4 Privet Drive, with lots of (new) friends, an exorbitant amount of presents, food, games, laughter and loud music. Julie was feeling happy again and the grand scale of the party reflected that well. She had made friends at her new school and also met her boyfriend there. His name was Calum and the only empty seat at the first day of school had been next to him. They eventually became friends, even though Calum was the introvert type and Julie quickly became quite popular, but they fell in love when she went to his house for a school project. They never got around to finishing the project, but they were in agreement that some things were more important. The following months they went to movies, to restaurants and met each other’s families. With her first official relationship, having found her place at school, getting good grades and the feeling that her father had finally come to terms with her leaving Smeltings, Julie could afford to stop with her medication.

Harry met her boyfriend once, when one evening he went downstairs for a quick bite. Vernon and Petunia had gone to the theatre, and Julie and Calum were making lasagne while singing and dancing along to the radio like idiots. When Harry entered the kitchen, Julie immediately turned off the noise. ‘Harry! Hey! Did you meet Calum yet?’ she said. ‘Hiya, mate’ Calum said, offering Harry his hand. Harry shook it. ‘Hello.’ ‘Harry’s my cousin that I told you about’ Julie said. ‘Right, I heard you went to a special boarding school. That’s so cool!’ Calum said. ‘It’s all right, I guess’ Harry said. He was not really in the mood for conversation and just started making a sandwich. Julie stepped aside to give him space. ‘You can eat with us if you like, we’re almost done with the lasagne and there’s plenty’ Calum said. ‘Thanks, but that’s okay’ Harry responded. ‘It’s gonna be incredibly good, though. A lot of spices and a decent amount of love’ (she smiled at Calum), ‘one of my specialties!’ Julie joined in. ‘You’re so modest’ Harry said. ‘Yupsolutely, I’m the most humble person in the history of humble people, like ever’ she said. ‘Ha, yeah, I don’t know why you’ve never had a boyfriend before’ Calum said. ‘It must’ve been her personality’ Harry said, and after a few seconds of silence Calum started laughing. ‘He got you there, babe!’ Julie just smiled awkwardly. ‘Yeah, Harry’s so full of jokes.’ Harry felt tempted to say ‘I was serious’, but did not feel like causing drama. Besides, Calum seemed like an all right bloke. Harry nodded them goodbye and went back to his room.

Julie’s happiness stung Harry a little. While her life was looking great again, Harry felt terrible. The loss of Sirius had left Harry feeling numb, like something had been ripped out of his body. He hardly left his bedroom. He was often alone at home, since Vernon and Petunia were looking to buy a vacation home at the beach and away frequently, and Julie and Calum went out regularly to play pool or go to the cinema. In the past, Harry had found being at home by himself a rare moment of peace and joy, because there were no Vernon or Petunia to shout at him or Julie to bully him, and he would sometimes play on her computer. These days, however, he had no energy to do anything, much like Julie last summer. Every time Harry woke up he wondered how he was going to make it through the day. To her own surprise Julie felt a bit worried about him, maybe because his behaviour reminded her of her own, and one time decided to bring him some food, since he had not shown up for dinner again. She put some leftover birthday cake and a cup of tea on a tray and carefully took it upstairs, where she knocked on Harry’s door. 

‘Harry? I got some food for you’ she said. ‘Why?’ Harry called through the closed door. ‘Because, well… can you open the door?’ She heard her cousin get off his bed and a second later the door was opened, revealing Harry. ‘I’m not your charity case, Julie. I can take care of myself.’ ‘I know, I was just…’ ‘Whatever, just leave me alone.’ ‘I’ll just put the tray here, is that okay?’ Julie said hesitantly, putting it on his desk. Harry did not respond and when Julie made eye contact with him, the words came out before she realised it. ‘Look, Harry, I don’t know what’s going on with you and I don’t expect you to tell me, but starving yourself is not the answer. Besides, there’s not much a good cake can’t fix’ she said with a nervous smile. She was a bit scared of Harry in this state. ‘You’re right, you don’t know and you don’t care, so why don’t you just go and bother your boyfriend?’ ‘Er, he left actually’ Julie said feebly. ‘Can’t blame him.’ Julie rolled her eyes, then without thinking she stepped further in his room and went to sit on his bed. Her arms folded, she looked him straight in the eye. ‘What’s going on?’ ‘Get off my bed.’ ‘Not until you tell me why you’re acting like this.’ Harry sighed, and before he knew it the words came out. ‘Fine, Juliebee. My godfather was killed two weeks ago and it was my fault. I’ve literally no one to talk to about it in this bloody house and it’s eating me up inside. Happy now?’ he said angrily. ‘Harry, I’m… I’m sorry.’ ‘Sure you are.’ ‘Well, yes, that was one of the very few times in my life that I said that I was sorry and actually meant it’ Julie said. This combined with the expression on her face made quite an impression on Harry, who went quiet and looked away. ‘Well, I don’t know what happened, but are you sure it’s your fault, though? Maybe it was a chain of unfortunate circumstances’ Julie asked carefully. ‘Doesn’t make a difference.’ ‘Do you talk to your friends about it, even just through letters? You can’t just beat yourself up like this.’ ‘No, but even if I did, I don’t know what good it’d do. Nobody understands.’ Julie nodded. ‘I somewhat understand what that’s like. Like when people ask you about your mental wellbeing. It’s just a bunch of crap. They don’t want to know how you feel, because when people ask you to ‘express your feelings’ they don’t mean your actual feelings. They mean the feelings that they want you to have, because people can’t deal with dark, scary or weird. They want you to smile and say ‘yeah, everything’s great!’ because then they can just go on with their boring lives, and not think about you again’ she said. Harry said nothing, thinking about what she had just said. He had never seen this side of her before. She got up. ‘Still you should keep your friends close. I don’t need to tell you out of all people this, but life can really, really suck sometimes. Best is to spend time with people who don’t.’ ‘Why are you being nice to me?’ Harry asked. Julie shrugged. ‘Because I want to. Now you should drink your tea before it gets cold.’ She smiled at him and left.

Julie did not bother Harry after that, as she respected his wish to be left alone. One evening she was watching TV with her parents in the living room. It was rather late and she was already in her pyjamas, when the doorbell rang. They all looked up in surprise. ‘What kind of person would call at 11 PM?!’ Vernon shouted. He got up to answer the door. About a minute later he came back to the living room, with Harry, and, much to Julie’s surprise, a very old wizard with a long beard. ‘Ah, this must be Petunia,’ the wizard said when he saw Harry’s aunt, ‘and Julie. My name’s Albus Dumbledore.’ He nodded at her. She nodded back, feeling a bit uncomfortable to be in his presence wearing only her pyjamas. She had been lying on the couch, but sat up straight when her parents sat down on both sides of her. Dumbledore sat down in the armchair nearest to the electric fireplace that had been destroyed and repaired by Mr Weasley two years ago and Harry settled himself in the remaining armchair. ‘I take it there’ll be no offering of refreshments?’ Dumbledore asked Vernon, and without waiting for a response he took out his wand. A flick and a bottle and five glassed appeared. The bottle emptied itself into the glasses, which then floated to each person. ‘Butterbeer’ he explained and Harry and he took a sip. Julie took the glass and smelled it, but almost dropped the glass when her father snapped at her. ‘I forbid you to drink that, Julie!’ She quickly put the glass on the little table in front of her. Her parents’ glasses were gently nudging them on the sides of their heads, but they did not take them. 

Dumbledore then turned his attention to Harry. For a while they spoke about Sirius and his house, and that Harry had inherited everything his godfather had owned. While Vernon greedily asked for details, Julie shot Harry a look. The conversation for the most part went right over their heads, but then Dumbledore flicked his wand again and with a loud bang a creature appeared. The creature was about three feet tall, had bat-like ears, enormous eyes and a snout. All three of the Dursleys gasped in shock, and Petunia even screamed. ‘This is a house-elf,’ Dumbledore explained, ‘and hopefully Harry’s.’ Dumbledore looked at Harry. ‘If he belongs to you now, he’ll have to obey. Give him an order.’ ‘Er, Kreacher, shut up!’ Harry said. It worked, where Kreacher had been throwing a tantrum he fell silent immediately. ‘Excellent’ Dumbledore said with a smile. They spoke a bit more about things the Dursleys did not understand, like ‘Buckbeak’, and then Harry was told to get his trunk.

Nobody was talking when Harry came back to the living room. The atmosphere was very tense, and Harry could not wait to leave. ‘I’m ready, professor.’ ‘Very well. Just one last thing’ Dumbledore said and he turned to the Dursleys once more. ‘As you might know, next year Harry will come of age…’ ‘No,’ Petunia interrupted, ‘he’s a month younger than Julie, and Jewel doesn’t turn eighteen until the year after next.’ ‘Ah,’ Dumbledore said politely, ‘but in the wizarding world, we come of age at seventeen. You might know that Lord Voldemort’s back. Harry’s in even greater danger now than the day I left him on your doorstep, with a letter explaining about the murder of his parents and the hope that you’d care for him as though he were your own.’ The Dursleys inadvertently drew closer together when he said that. ‘You did not do as I asked. You’ve never treated Harry as a son. He’s known nothing but neglect and cruelty at your hands.’ Vernon looked at Dumbledore with his mouth slightly ajar, Petunia went red and Julie looked guiltily at the floor. ‘I ask only one thing and that’s that you allow Harry to come back once more to this place, before his seventeenth birthday. Harry enjoys powerful protection as long as he can call this house home, no matter how awful he’s always been treated. Now Harry, let’s go.’ He abruptly got up and Harry gladly and hastily followed him outside into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

‘Get down here, boy! We need to talk!’ Vernon’s voice coming from downstairs was loud and clear even though Harry’s bedroom door was closed. He threw away the newspaper he had been reading and went downstairs. It was the summer of 1997 and the atmosphere had been tense on 4 Privet Drive, ever since Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had made an unanticipated visit to the house. They came to explain that since the protective charm would break as soon as Harry would turn seventeen, the family was in danger and had to go into hiding. This had obviously come as an enormous shock to the Dursleys, and they were not at all sure whether to accept the protection or not. In fact, Vernon, being the head of the family, had changed his mind about ten times now. One moment he felt he needed to protect his family, then next moment he was sure it was all nonsense and some kind of trick to get a hold of the house.

When Harry entered the living room he found Vernon and Petunia standing in the middle of the room, and Julie stood a few feet away from them with her arms folded. They all looked at him. ‘Yes?’ Harry said. ‘I’ve come to a decision. We’re not going to leave’ Vernon said. Harry did not say anything; they had had this conversation before. ‘I don’t believe it’ his uncle continued. ‘You seemed to believe it when Kingsley and Mr Weasley came to explain’ Harry said pointedly. It was true, Kingsley had made a very good expression on the family with his deep voice and proper attire. ‘Let’s say that we accept this protection. Why can’t we get Kingsley to transport us to that safe location?’ ‘Well, he’s not available, but Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle are very accomplished wizards and up to the task.’ ‘We don’t even know who those people are.’ Harry began to lose his patience and pointed at the television. ‘All of those accidents aren’t actually accidents. Voldemort’s behind it all; the crashes, the explosions, the disappearances and the murders. Even the fogs, they’re caused by Dementors, and if you don’t remember what they are, you can ask your daughter.’ He pointed at Julie, who gave him a scared look. ‘There are… more of them?’ ‘Of course, there are maybe thousands by now.’ ‘All right, we get it. But what about my work? And what about Julie’s school? I doubt you lot took those things in consideration.’ Before Harry knew it he started shouting. ‘Don’t you get it?! Are you really as stupid as you look?! They will torture and kill you!’ Julie seemed to be convinced by his words. She looked at her father and softly said: ‘Dad, please. I think we should put our trust in Harry. I want to go with these Order people.’ Harry looked at her. ‘Thank you, Julie.’ She nodded at him. He knew they would accept the protection now; there was no way they were going to be separated from their Juliebee now that she was scared enough to go. ‘They’ll come tomorrow at 9 PM’ Harry said and he left the Dursleys alone as he went back to his bedroom.

The next day the Dursleys had resigned to their fate and started packing. Fortunately some of their most precious belongings fit in their storage unit on a supervised area. When Julie was in her room she felt odd. The idea that they would be leaving and maybe never come back, was a very weird feeling. In her room she found some long forgotten toys, most of which she had intentionally destroyed when she was upset about something. From her desk she grabbed the watch Calum had given her for their one year anniversary. She put her favourite picture of them together in her wallet, nodded to herself and decided to do what she had deemed best. She went downstairs and as she was waiting for him to come, she looked at her youth pictures in the living room. The living room where she had thrown so many tantrums about rather silly things. ‘Every day you grow a little older, and every day you grow a little wiser’ she mumbled to her younger self on the pictures. The pictures did not respond. She then went outside and sat by the drained pool, her beloved pool that she had been given to train for gymnastics during the summer breaks. Who could have foreseen that she would quit the sport at fifteen and simultaneously leave her father’s old prestigious school? Life was really weird like that sometimes, but at least those choices had been her own. 

She waited by the pool and stared at the hole in the fence through which Calum usually came to visit her. There was no logical explanation to that, it just had become some sort of ritual in their relationship that he almost never entered through the front door. The sound of cracking twigs indicated his arrival. ‘Hello, Jewel!’ he called when he had appeared in her view. His smile was warm and his hair was messy; some things never changed. ‘Hello, Cay. We need to talk’ Julie said. She had gone over this conversation about a hundred times in her head, but she knew it would be nothing like the real thing. ‘Sure, about what?’ Calum curiously peered past her into the house, where Vernon and Petunia were packing and checking for things they might have forgotten. ‘Well, the thing is, my family and I have to go away for a while. A long while. It’s hard to explain.’ It was true, how was she supposed to explain to her boyfriend that her cousin was actually a wizard and that some very dangerous wizard had returned, and that that wizard was now plotting to kill her cousin and that she therefore had to go into hiding? ‘Well, can you try to explain?’ ‘It’s got to do with my family’s safety. Please trust me.’ ‘Of course I trust you, Jewel.’ She did not know how to say this so she just did. ‘We should break up.’ When she said those words she did not look him in the eyes. Her eyes that he had once called pretty just could not do it. ‘Why?’ he said flabbergasted, ‘no matter where you’re going, I can wait for you!’ ‘The truth is, I care too much about you to let you wait indefinitely for me. You should go and meet someone else.’ ‘Is that… really what you want, Jewel?’ ‘What I want is that you’re happy, Cay. I can take care of myself, so you just get out of here and don’t you look back.’ ‘There must be another way…’ ‘Just leave now… please.’ Her lips started to quiver. Calum stared at her for a few more seconds and then he nodded. ‘All right, Jewel.’ He turned around and slowly disappeared through the hole, among the trees, until they had engulfed him completely. Julie gulped back the tears and went inside, where her mother gave her a sympathetic smile and a hug. ‘Are you sure Calum’s going to be all right?’ Julie asked her. ‘Of course Juliebee, dating you for almost two years has made him tough as nails. He’ll be fine.’ ‘Yeah, I guess so’ Julie said, but it was more hope than anything. It suddenly dawned on her just how much her life would change on this very day; within a matter of hours she would basically lose the entire basis of her life. Apparently this was one of those major crossroads that every individual sometimes had to face.

‘Come on, Julie! Hurry up!’ Vernon gave his daughter an impatient pat on the back. They were carrying the last of their suitcases to the car, but Julie had stopped for a few seconds to look at the house. She still could not quite believe that they were about to leave it all behind. Not just the house, but basically their whole life. The gloomy grey sky seemed to reflect her emotions. She sighed and followed her father. The people from the Order would arrive in a couple of minutes. Julie was not scared of them, they were going to protect her family after all. She just hoped that her father would not be too rude to them during the transport. They went back inside to wait in the living room. It seemed much emptier even though they were not actually bringing most of the furniture. ‘I’ve lived in this house for twenty years, and now I’m expected to leave in a single night?’ her mother asked nobody in particular. ‘It’s going to be okay, mum, we’re doing this as a family. We have no choice, but we’re leaving together and one day we’re coming back together’ Julie said. Before she knew it her mother had hugged her tightly. She actually hated it when her mother did that, she could barely breathe, but seeing how upset she was she decided not to protest this time. 

Harry silently stood in the doorway. When Petunia had let go of Julie, he spoke. ‘You made the right decision. They’ll murder you.’ Petunia looked at her nephew. ‘You think I don’t know what they’re capable of? You didn’t just lose a mother that night at Godric’s Hallow, I lost a sister.’ Harry and Julie both looked at her, too taken aback to say anything. The doorbell rang. Petunia quickly wiped away a tear and Vernon went to open the door. ‘Hello, you must be Harry’s uncle!’ an excited voice said. Petunia and Julie went into the hall. They saw a tiny wizard with a purple hat and a black-haired witch. ‘I see you’re all ready to go! Splendid! Let’s go right away. The plan is to drive about an hour and there we’ll Apparate to the safe house. Ah, hello Harry! What an honour to see you again!’ Harry had followed the Dursleys into the hall to greet the members of the Order and shook their hands. The Dursleys stood there awkwardly until Hestia softly said: ‘I think we should wait outside by the car.’ Dedalus nodded and stepped outside with Hestia, but there was no teary goodbye. Vernon turned around and looked at his nephew. ‘This isn’t just goodbye boy, is it? This is farewell.’ Harry nodded, but Julie looked at him in surprise. ‘Wait a minute. I don’t understand. Isn’t Harry coming with us?’ She looked inquisitively at her father, then at her mother and finally at Harry. ‘No’ her father said impatiently. ‘Why not?’ ‘Because, well, he doesn’t want to, right?’ Vernon said and he looked at Harry. ‘Absolutely not. Besides, I’m just a good-for-nothing git, ain’t I, uncle Vernon?’ Vernon said nothing. ‘Well, come on, everyone’ he said and he stepped outside. Petunia, without looking at Harry, followed but Julie did not. Some kind of internal conflict seemed to be going on, until finally she realised that she felt something she had never felt allowed to feel. She genuinely cared about him and was worried for his safety. While her parents walked to the car, she turned to Harry. ‘I… I don’t think you’re a good-for-nothing git.’ She went red and Harry felt surprised and a bit embarrassed himself. ‘Er, thank you, Julie’ he said. ‘You saved my life. I don’t think I ever properly thanked you. So… thank you, Harry.’ ‘That’s all right.’ Julie realised full well that this was maybe the very last time that she would ever see him, and there was so much that she wanted to say to him, but somehow her brain did not cooperate with her voice. Instead, she just offered him her hand and he shook it. ‘Please be safe, no matter where you’re going and what you’re going to do. I don’t want to lose the only cousin I have’ she said. ‘I’ll be fine, Juliebee’ Harry said. ‘I know you will. You’re a strong man, Harry James Potter, the kind of person who gets up no matter how many times he falls down. You go get them.’ Julie smiled at him, nodded and turned around. She looked over her shoulder once more as she slowly walked towards the car. She hesitantly waved once more at her cousin, who nodded at her. Finally she got in, settling herself next to Hestia on the back seat. 

The drive took about an hour, like Dedalus had said, and finally they stopped at an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere. ‘All right, everybody out, please!’ Dedalus called and Julie gladly did. She had not enjoyed the ride one bit. Her father had been quite impolite to the wizards, questioning everything they told him to do. Also the remark ‘These people can’t even drive!’ after Dedalus had paid him a compliment regarding his driving skills Julie had found stupid. She was sure that these wizards meant well. Once they were out of the car, Hestia grabbed her arm and soon after she felt her feet losing touch with the ground. She saw a myriad of colours and finally they landed on soft grass. The fresh air felt incredibly good after the Apparition. Night had fallen during the transport and the Dursleys could barely make out where they were. While the Dursleys were recovering from the unpleasant sensation of Apparition, Dedalus Apparated once more to get their belongings. It seemed like they were in the clearing of a forest, on which a house had been built. The house was more of a mansion and comprised of about four or five floors. Its shape was rectangular and the bricks were black. It did not look very inviting. ‘This is The Lair’ Hestia explained. ‘Let’s go inside.’


	8. Chapter 8

The apartment the Dursleys had been given was really quite nice. It was about as big as their house on Privet Drive, but it came with some nice touches. The refrigerator, filled with what Vernon called ‘normal food’, magically replenished itself and their plates became clean automatically when left on the sink. Petunia did not like that much, she felt that that was her job. Julie kept to her room for a couple of days. It had a comfortable four-poster bed and her own television in front of it, just like home. Hestia had explained that they had made sure that their Muggle things would work in The Lair, which Julie found very considerate, and that they were allowed to go wherever they pleased.

After four days, Julie became tired of doing nothing but watch television. The family was enjoying breakfast when she promptly said: ‘I want to go out today and see what we’re living in.’ Her parents seemed shocked. ‘Why? We’ve got everything here, we don’t need to leave these rooms’ her mother said. ‘I know, but I’m bored out of my mind. I want to know if there are people my age or, like, things to do.’ ‘People your age? You mean freaks your age! What if they hurt you?’ Vernon asked, his eyes narrowing. ‘I’m sure they won’t. They’re protecting us after all, and I’m not at all sure if we deserved that’ Julie said. Petunia sighed. ‘All right Juliebee, if that’s what you want to do. I don’t want you to feel imprisoned even more.’ ‘Thanks, mum’ Julie said with a smile. After breakfast she took a shower and then selected her clothes carefully. She put on her golden necklace, her two favourite rings, jeans and a grey blouse. More out of habit than anything else she put on the watch that Calum had given her for their one year anniversary; it had stopped working the second day after their arrival. She gulped down a sob and looked once more at her reflection in the mirror. Her brown eyes looked back at her, nervous but excited. Her shoulder length dark blonde hair fell perfectly today. A good sign, and she was generally considered to be very pretty; that would probably help with making contact. She sighed and went back into the living room. ‘All right, I’ll be back for dinner, if not sooner. How’s that?’ Julie asked her parents politely. ‘Sure thing, Juliebee’ her mother said. ‘Make sure not to fall for any tricks’ her father said. Julie smiled at them and stepped out the door.

The first thing she realised was that their apartment was at the end of a long corridor. During their arrival it had been too dark to get a proper look, and Hestia and Dedalus had seemed in a rush to get them to their rooms. There were a few more doors in this hallway, but theirs was the very last. That was easy to remember, Julie thought. She wondered if there were other people living behind those doors, and if so who they were and why they were here. Since there was only one way to go she began moving, looking around at every step she took. ‘What are you looking at?’ a voice suddenly snapped, causing Julie to jump. She looked around, but did not see anyone. ‘I must be going mad’ she mumbled to herself. ‘Well, talking to yourself is definitely the first step’ the voice said, but this time Julie had heard where it was coming from. She turned around and saw a line of five portraits. In the middle of them sat a fat man in a rocking chair, staring smugly at her. To her shock, the chair depicted on the painting was actually moving and the man spoke again. ‘What? You’ve never seen a painting before?’ ‘Not one that featured moving and speaking characters, no’ Julie said. She moved closer to examine the paintings. ‘Hey, back off! I’m warning you!’ the man said and he clumsily jumped out of his chair, but Julie just smiled. She was not at all scared of this painting; in fact, she was rather fascinated. ‘I’m warning you once more, lady! I’ve got some tricks!’ the man squeaked. ‘I’ve got a trick too’ Julie said, and she promptly turned the painting, causing the man to fall out of view. A bang indicated that he crashed into something. Julie giggled and turned the painting back to its original shape. 

She then continued her way down the corridor, until she came to the end. The corridor had led to something reminiscent of an elevator shaft, but about twenty times wider and bigger. White stairs moved back and forth, constantly leading to different floors. Julie watched this phenomenon for a few minutes. She noticed that she was on the fourth floor, which was also the highest. She realised that during their arrival the stairs must have been perfectly still, for she had not noticed anything odd about them. For a few minutes she stood there on the landing, holding on to the rail. She had a tremendous fear of heights and frankly did not dare to step onto the stairs that connected itself to her floor every few minutes. Suddenly she heard a door open and she turned around. A boy about her age came walking out of the room closest to her, wiping sweat off his forehead and turning in her direction. He had brown hair, brown eyes and wore a black robe with a yellow crest. He spotted her and nodded. ‘Hello’ he said politely. ‘Hello’ Julie said in return. ‘I just came out of the greenhouse, had to water some of the plants. The Fanged Geranium can be quite nasty.’ Julie had no idea what he was talking about and decided to just smile politely. ‘Are you waiting for someone?’ he asked politely, seeing that she was standing by the stairs. ‘No, er, actually, well, the thing is, you see… I don’t feel comfortable with moving staircases, we don’t have those where I come from’ Julie said awkwardly. ‘Ah, so you’re a Muggle?’ the boy asked kindly. Julie had heard that word before, but had forgotten what it meant. ‘A Muggle?’ ‘All right, you’re definitely a Muggle,’ the boy said with a smile, ‘Muggles are people who can’t do magic. My parents are also Muggles. I’m Justin, by the way. Justin Finch-Fletchley.’ He stretched out his hand and Julie shook it. ‘I’m Julie, Julie Dursley. I’m Harry Potter’s cousin.’ She had decided to be open about that, even if it meant that some people would dislike her immediately. She felt being honest and accepting her mistakes from the past was the best way to move forward. ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’ Justin said, ‘and I understand why you’re here now. Are you new here?’ ‘I am, my parents and I arrived a few days ago. They’re scared of magic and refuse to leave their rooms, but I wanted to see what I’m living in.’ ‘Well, if you want I can show you around’ Justin offered kindly. Julie smiled at him. ‘Yupsolutely, that sounds fun!’

They descended the stairs and arrived on the third floor landing. There was a corridor very similar to her own corridor, but whereas the walls on the fourth floor had been white were these brown. Justin explained that most of the rooms on the two highest floors provided housing to people, but that the corridor on the fourth floor had the greenhouse he was partially responsible for and that the third floor had a very large bathroom with a pool. She liked that a lot. The second floor had a gym and some classrooms, where Justin explained sometimes guest teachers revised the students’ work. ‘We basically just work through our books, and we wear the Hogwarts uniform to make it feel real, you know.’ Julie knew ‘Hogwarts’ was Harry’s school and nodded. The first floor had only two rooms; a big study room and a gigantic library. Finally they arrived on the ground floor, where there was a lounge room and a kitchen, that also served as a dining room. Hestia was in the kitchen, seemingly overseeing the work of a house-elf. Julie had seen a house-elf once before, when Dumbledore summoned one into the Privet Drive’s living room. 

‘Hello!’ Hestia said brightly to the two of them as they entered the kitchen, and the house-elf bowed. ‘Hello, ma’am’ Julie said politely. Hestia smiled at her. ‘Please call me Hestia. How are you? Have you settled a bit already?’ ‘Sure, the biggest shock is over I guess, and Justin here was so nice to show me around.’ Julie smiled at her new friend. ‘Ah, that’s wonderful to hear. Thank you, Justin, you’re doing a fine job around here. How are your parents coping, Julie?’ ‘Er, they’re still too scared to leave their rooms. Magic isn’t exactly their thing.’ She paused for a second and then the words came out before she realised it. ‘I’d like to apologize for my father’s behaviour during the transport. Sometimes I feel anger is the only emotion he’s got. And I want you to know that I at least am very grateful for the protection and the rooms we were given. And if there’s anything I can do to help out, I’ll gladly do so.’ Hestia smiled at her. ‘That’s very nice of you. We’re actually about to have lunch, why don’t you join us?’ ‘Sure’ Julie said without any hesitation. The house-elf was setting the table. ‘Would you like a hand?’ Julie asked the elf politely, but the creature looked shocked and even somewhat offended. ‘No, no, no! This is Lumi’s work!’ ‘Er, I’m sorry.’ ‘House-elves take much pride in serving their masters, don’t worry about it’ Justin explained. ‘Right’ Julie said. She still found it a bit odd to see the tiny elf do the work all by herself, but at least she had offered help. She sat down next to Justin and gradually more people entered the kitchen. Everyone greeted Hestia, adults and children alike, before they sat down. Some of them also greeted Justin, and nodded politely at Julie, who nodded back. ‘There are more people in this house than I thought’ she said to Justin, with the sounds of lively chatter filling the kitchen. ‘This isn’t even everyone. Some people prefer to prepare their own food and whatnot. They know they’re always welcome, though.’ It was a nice lunch. There was a delicious drink called pumpkin juice (‘Just wait till you taste butterbeer!’) and Julie and Justin talked about literally everything. After some time people slowly started leaving, and a blond boy about a year younger than Julie came up to them. ‘We’re heading down to the lounge! Are you coming?’ ‘Sure’ Justin said, and he looked at Julie. ‘Will you come as well?’ Again Julie did not hesitate to say yes.

The lounge turned out to be a nice room with tables and chairs. It was filled with teenagers in black robes, whom Julie assumed to be Hogwarts students. ‘Hello, Justin!’ the blond boy called and he waved, ‘who’s your friend?’ ‘Hello, I’m Julie Dursley, I’m Harry Potter’s cousin’ Julie said. The effect of her words was immediate; the room fell silent. ‘Oh my goodness, are you really?! I’m Colin Creevey, I’m like Harry’s best friend! How cool to meet you!’ He enthusiastically shook Julie’s hand, and so did a boy who was blond like Colin, but maybe two or three years younger. Both of the boys were remarkably short. ‘This is Dennis, my brother. We like Harry a lot, don’t we, Dennis?’ He looked at Julie, who smiled at them. The other students all looked at them. ‘How’s Harry at home? Is he any different than he’s at school?’ ‘Er, I don’t know, I mean, I don’t know how he’s at school’ Julie said carefully. ‘Ah, I see. Well, this is Norah’ – Colin pointed at a girl with black hair – ‘and this is Khaya.’ He pointed at a girl with long brown hair. They waved politely at Julie, who waved back. ‘They’re both Ravenclaw students. They should be in their sixth year, but you know, with that Muggle-Born Registration Commission…’ ‘I’m sorry, but what’s that exactly?’ Julie asked. It sounded serious, considering how Colin’s cheerful tone had disappeared immediately. ‘Well, now You-Know-Who’s taken over the Ministry, all Muggle-born wizards and witches must register with the Ministry, so they can be imprisoned for ‘stealing’ their magical powers from ‘real’ wizards and witches’ Justin explained, and people started murmuring. ‘Is that why you’re all here?’ Julie asked the group. They nodded. ‘That’s terrible’ Julie said and she felt sorry for them. ‘So, as I already explained, we’re trying to keep up with our studies here, just in case someday we can return to Hogwarts.’ ‘Of course we will, Justin, Harry’s going to win the war for us!’ Colin said excitedly. The others cheered. ‘Harry’s our only hope!’ Khaya said. Julie looked at the group. They all seemed to find Harry some kind of hero. She hoped that they would not find out just how horrible she had always treated him.

They spent several hours playing games. They taught Julie how to play wizard’s chess and Exploding Snap and she enjoyed it immensely. She was having such a good time that she forgot she had promised her parents to be home for dinner, and only thought of it when the group was about to leave for their dinner. ‘Sorry, I got to go’ Julie said and she got up. ‘All right, well, will we see you tomorrow?’ Colin asked her. ‘Sure’ she smiled. ‘Yay!’ he cheered, and Julie giggled. She liked Colin a lot, even though he had asked her a lot of questions about Harry during the games. She quickly made her way back to the fourth floor and to her own rooms. ‘Sorry I’m late. I was having such a great time’ Julie said as soon as she entered. Her parents did not look too happy, even though judging by their plates they had not started dinner that long ago. ‘That’s all right, Juliebee’ her mother said. Her father looked a bit angry, but he did not say anything. Julie assumed he found it hard living here and did not take it personally. While the family enjoyed their dinner, Julie told them all about the house and her newly made friends. ‘Just wait till you see the swimming pool!’ Her parents half-heartedly promised to go with her some day. That night, Julie went to bed with a smile on her face. Maybe this ‘vacation’ was not going to be so bad after all.

The days quickly turned into weeks. Julie immensely enjoyed the set rhythm in The Lair, with breakfast at 9, lunch at 1 and dinner at 6. By adhering to it, Julie did not end up with weird sleeping schedules that contributed to her anxiety. Hestia had taken Julie up on her offer to help out and so she brought the injured witches and wizards that also hid in the house their potions and did little tasks for them. When the Hogwarts students, whom to her delight really were not much different from her, were studying, Julie went to the library. The pictures in the books actually moved, just like the paintings, and they were full of interesting stuff. She read about Quidditch, magical history, transfiguration, how to make potions and a lot more. Sometimes she spent hours on end in the library, fascinated by everything she discovered. Occasionally she felt a little sad about not having magical powers, and she regretted never asking Harry questions about his world. 

When the Hogwarts students were not studying, Julie played games with them. She also asked them about Hogwarts and they answered all of her questions. She would love to one day see the school for herself, and Justin promised her to show her the castle someday. Sometimes Justin and Colin told her about the things Harry did at Hogwarts, and they were surprised that she did not have a clue. ‘You and Harry were not very close, were you?’ Justin asked her carefully one day. ‘Well, we just didn’t have much in common, with him being a wizard and me being a Muggle and all’ Julie said evasively. Well, that was not a lie, but it also was not the whole truth. The situation reminded her of her childhood, when she had playdates with other children. At home with her parents and Harry, her safe zone so to speak, her behaviour was always rather terrible with bullying Harry and her temper tantrums when she did not get her way, but when she was at friends’ houses she always behaved very well. She was calm and polite, and everyone liked her. After a while, Julie knew about the Philosopher’s Stone and the horrors of the Chamber of Secrets. This afternoon they told her all about the Triwizard Tournament. Julie was very impressed when she heard about how Harry outsmarted a dragon during the first task, and how he went all the way to the bottom of the Great Lake. 

‘Cedric and Harry were tied after the first two tasks, so they entered the maze first. The first champion to reach the Cup would be declared the winner. No one knew what had happened exactly, but after a few hours Harry suddenly appeared with the Cup and Cedric’s body. Later it turned out that Cedric had been murdered by You-Know-Who and Harry narrowly escaped’ Justin said softly. ‘Cedric was in my House. We were all devastated and in total disbelief.’ Julie looked at him and said nothing. She thought about the night of the Dementor attack in Little Whinging, when Harry had pushed her against a wall and threatened to curse her because she had taunted him with the fact that he had said ‘don’t kill Cedric!’ in his sleep. She felt truly disgusted with herself now. ‘Are you all right, Julie?’ ‘Er, yes, I’m fine, just give me a moment’ Julie said feebly. She went to the bathroom and splashed some water in her face, feeling awful. Maybe it was time to come clean to Justin at least…

It went off her mind, however, that evening. She had enjoyed another lovely dinner with her friends, and had barely set foot in her apartment when she heard her mother call her name. ‘Julie, dear, we need to talk.’ ‘Er, okay’ Julie said surprised. She walked into the living room where her father and mother sat at the table. Vernon motioned for her to sit and so she did, not at all sure what was going on. ‘Your mother and I have been talking,’ Vernon said, ‘and we don’t really like you mingling so much with that kind of people.’ ‘Why not? They’re really nice’ Julie said surprised. ‘We think you just have that idea because you have nobody else in this bloody place,’ Vernon said, ‘they aren’t true friends, Julie.’ ‘What makes you say that? Not like you ever came out of these rooms and saw it for yourself’ Julie retorted. Her surprise had turned into anger. ‘Your father’s just worried about you, dear’ Petunia said softly, but Julie smiled sarcastically. ‘Worried? While I’m socializing and learning a lot of new stuff and he’s isolating himself? Good one, mum.’ ‘Show a little respect Julie, we’ve given you so much’ Vernon said. ‘Well, all you’re giving me now is a headache. What are you saying anyway, that I can’t hang out with my friends because you’re still scared of magic’ (her parents winced), ‘despite these wizards always going the extra mile to make it easier for us?’ Julie said. ‘They’d better, it’s not like we’re here for our own pleasure, are we?’ Vernon said angrily. Julie rolled her eyes. ‘Why are you so terrified of magic anyway? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it was me who magically got trapped in a snake enclosure at the zoo, it was me who was given feathers for which I needed surgery and it was me whose nose became longer than the trunk of an elephant. Why can I move past that while you can’t?’ Her parents said nothing for a few seconds, until Petunia feebly said: ‘Julie, dear… you don’t understand.’ ‘Then explain it to me.’ ‘Petunia, you don’t have to’ Vernon intervened. Julie looked at him. ‘If you want to forbid me from seeing my friends because they can do magic’ (they winced again), ‘then I feel that I deserve to know the reason why. And with that I mean a good reason, not some irrational rubbish.’ Petunia sighed. ‘All right, Julie.’

‘My sister, your aunt, and I were the best of friends as sisters. We did everything together and we held no secrets. Then one day, she received a letter from that school. My parents were so incredibly proud, while I just wanted one thing and that was to go too. I even wrote the headmaster, but he wrote back saying that I couldn’t come. I felt rejected, jealous and overshadowed; emotions I’ve never been able to fully shake off. I was so upset with Lily that I didn’t want her as bridesmaid, something that hurt her deeply. We’ve never been able to reconcile, because then she was killed. I’ll never forgive the magic world for taking away my sister.’ She took out a handkerchief and dried the tears that had welled up in her eyes. Julie touched her arm but did not say anything. ‘Then suddenly we were left with her son on our doorstep. Every time I looked him in the eyes, I thought of the sister I lost.’ ‘Is that why Harry was treated so badly?’ Julie asked carefully. Her mother nodded. ‘That’s also why we always wanted to give you everything, Julie. I wanted you to be the special child, to compensate for my own miserable childhood, where all attention went out to my sister.’ Julie said nothing for a bit. It was a lot to take in, and she had never had the faintest idea of the feelings that had been tormenting her mother for so long. ‘Mum… I’m so sorry’ she said eventually, and she meant it. Her mother had started sobbing. Julie hesitated for a bit, but felt this might be the only chance she would ever get to discuss this subject, and therefore went ahead. ‘I understand you, I really do. But I don’t think Harry should've been punished for events that happened before he was even born.’ ‘What do you want us to say?’ Vernon suddenly interrupted. Julie looked him straight in the eyes. ‘Say that we failed him. You and me. All of us. For the longest time I’ve blamed Harry for those bad magical experiences I had, but it wasn’t his fault. It was my own.’ Her parents said nothing. ‘Part of the reason why we wanted to slap the magic out of him, was because we knew it was a dangerous world. I had proof of that’ Petunia said after a few moments. Julie nodded faintly. ‘Can I ask you a question, dear?’ her mother said. ‘Yes, of course.’ ‘When you’re out there, with those wizards and witches, don’t you feel at least a little jealous?’ ‘No, because it’s what it is. I’m just glad that I can even have a taste of it, since most Muggles have no idea. Sometimes in life you just got to accept the way things are and focus on the positives and on what you have rather than what you don’t have.’ Her mother smiled at her, while there were still tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘I don’t know why I deserved such a wise daughter. Please don’t think too badly of me…’ ‘Of course not, you’re my mother’ Julie said softly and then her mother and she simultaneously got up and hugged each other tightly. Her childhood suddenly made sense to her now.

Julie needed some air after that talk and went out again. The corridor was dark, but she knew her way by now. Thousands of thoughts ran through her head, and suddenly she felt extremely emotional. She went to the second floor and stormed into a classroom, where before she knew it she kicked a desk and pushed over a chair. Then she heard a cough and she promptly looked around. ‘Oh, I didn’t know anyone was in here, I’ll go’ Julie said, feeling embarrassed. ‘No, it’s okay, please stay, I was just doing some late night studying,’ Justin said, ‘what’s wrong?’ Julie slid down the wall and sat on the ground. ‘Just family stuff. My parents aren’t doing well, they miss their old lives. It creates tension.’ That again was not a lie, but not the whole truth. Justin got up and went to sit beside her. ‘I understand it’s hard to be away from home, leaving your normal life behind, with so much uncertainty about the future’ he said. Julie nodded, suddenly thinking about Calum. ‘This watch was given to me by my boyfriend, with whom I broke up because I had to go into hiding. I don’t even know why I’m still wearing it, the damn thing’s not even running anymore. Anyway, that’s the past.’ She took off the watch and promptly threw it in the tiny trash bin in the corner. ‘You know, the real reason why I never knew anything about Harry was because my parents and I always treated him horribly. But I’m really sorry about it’ Julie said. ‘How horribly?’ Justin asked carefully. Julie looked at him. ‘He slept in a cupboard under the stairs for the first eleven years, that kind of horrible.’ ‘Oh,’ Justin said, ‘I guess you’ve changed then, because we all like you.’ ‘That, I have’ Julie said. They sat there silently and awkwardly for a while and then Justin got up. ‘We’d better get going. Thank you for being so honest, and don’t worry, I like how you’re now.’ ‘Thanks, Justin’ Julie said with a faint smile. He grabbed his stuff and then walked out the room. ‘Are you coming?’ ‘In a bit.’ ‘All right.’ He waved her goodbye and Julie went to sit on one of the chairs. Suddenly it dawned on her that her relationship with her parents might just have changed significantly and it made her nervous. Maybe she had gone too far with some of the things she had said, especially about Harry. She stared in the dark for a while, with a tear rolling down her cheek, and then buried her face in her arm.

Something was poking her. She groaned. ‘Don’t do that…’ ‘Ma’am! It’s morning!’ A voice squeaked. Julie yawned and stretched and then spotted Lumi, the house-elf. She realised that she had fallen asleep in the classroom. ‘What are you doing here, ma’am? Have you been crying? Lumi sees your eyes are red’ the elf said. Julie groaned again. ‘Don’t be silly, Lumi, 17-year-olds don’t cry. What time is it, anyway?’ ‘Almost time for breakfast. You should come with me!’ Julie shook her head. ‘I’ll meet you there, okay? I have something to do first. Thanks for waking me up.’ She got up and went back to her apartment. ‘Julie! Where have you been?’ her mother said when she stepped through the door. ‘I accidentally fell asleep somewhere. I’m sorry, mum. And I hope we can still be close, even with, you know, all that’ Julie said. ‘Of course Julie, it’s like you said, we’re in this together. Isn’t that right, Vernon?’ Her father nodded. ‘I’m still not thrilled about all this, but if you want to make friends with those people, that’s okay.’ Julie smiled. ‘Thanks, dad. It’s gonna be okay, we’ll get through this. Whatever it takes.’


	9. Chapter 9

Julie was very glad she had such an open talk with her parents, even though she had not been prepared for it at all and it had left her rather shaky afterwards. Her parents ultimately proved unable to make the step into the magic world, but Julie respected that and did not push, while her parents never protested again about her becoming involved and socializing with the kind of people they would never fully trust. Her parents had always been bad at denying her anything, but they also found it more important to keep each other close. Sometimes Julie would eat breakfast or dinner with her parents in the apartment instead of the kitchen, so they would not feel abandoned. It all worked out pretty well, especially since she got to celebrate Christmas two times. One with her parents, which actually felt very special in these circumstances. Normally Julie only cared about Christmas for the presents, but this time she simply appreciated celebrating the holiday with her parents and nothing else. She also celebrated Christmas with the other residents; she had helped decorate the gigantic Christmas tree that now had a prominent place in the living room and tremendously enjoyed the gigantic feast with all sorts of wizard’s specialties.

The area around The Lair was now covered in snow and Julie felt a little sad they were not allowed out. She had always loved snow; last Christmas she had been at Calum’s family dinner and afterwards everyone had enjoyed themselves with an all-out snowball war. Sometimes she just stared out the library window for a long while, lost in thoughts. She hoped Harry was doing all right, wherever he was. In her wallet she kept a moving picture of him that she had ripped out of one of his discarded newspapers, shortly before they had departed. Sometimes when she thought of him she took it out and felt closer with her cousin, albeit for just a short moment. She had also begun working through her own school books, rather than only read about the wizarding world. Initially she had been rather absorbed with all the new things, but eventually she realised that it would be wise to keep up with her own education too. In addition, she also made frequent visits to the pool to stay in shape. That was important to her, because if she felt well physically, she felt much better mentally too. She was doing fine in the safe house, but that did not mean that it was always easy to be confined within its walls and exercising regularly really helped taking her mind off things.

One evening, Julie and Hestia were in the kitchen discussing how the injured wizards and witches were doing. It was almost midnight and the entire house but them was asleep. Hestia had decided to teach Julie how to brew basic potions and she found it truly fascinating. She had been a little tentative at first, but Hestia had reassured her. ‘If you experience discomfort, it just means that you’re about to learn something’ she had told Julie, who felt that brewing potions was not all that different from cooking, for which she had always had a knack. Suddenly there was a loud knock on the front door, which startled the women, who looked at each other. ‘Stay seated’ Hestia commanded, drawing out her wand and cautiously moving towards the door. Julie could not hear anything, but about a minute later she heard the creaking of the door and people coming in. Hestia reappeared in the kitchen, followed by three men with red hair. Julie recognized them at once; it were the horrible twins that had jinxed her once and their father, who had caused substantial damage to her tidy living room. 

‘Ah, the Dursley girl’ the father said, nodding at her. ‘Hello’ Julie said nervously. ‘I guess you remember us?’ ‘Er, you guess correctly, sir’ Julie said, feeling very small sitting there. Hestia sensed her uneasiness and gently placed her arms around her shoulders. ‘Julie here has been a tremendous help around here, she really relieves us’ she said. Julie felt very thankful to Hestia and smiled at her. ‘Ah, excellent’ Mr Weasley said and then turned to Hestia. ‘We got word that the Death Eaters were planning a raid on the boys’ shop. Apparently they had gone too far with their provocations towards You-Know-Who.’ ‘It’s not our fault You-Know-Who has no sense of humour!’ one of the boys said. Mr Weasley just sighed. ‘We’ve warned you so many times, Fred. Anyway, we moved out the inventory and now the boys will have to go into hiding for a while.’ Julie’s heart sank. The terror twins sharing the same house with her? It was not fair, everything was going so relatively well for her. Hestia did not exactly help her this time. ‘How about you show them around, Julie, tomorrow after breakfast? Apparently you already know each other so that’s mighty convenient’ she said. Julie wanted to protest, but she was not assertive enough. ‘Er, sounds fun…’ she mumbled. Just her luck. Hestia then took the twins to their rooms. They smiled and waved at her before they left, but Julie did not return the gestures. Mr Weasley gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘I’m really sorry about that incident. Please know that they were duly punished.’ ‘Er, it happens, I guess’ Julie said. This man seemed quite nice and she realised that she was not scared of him, just of the twins. ‘It’s great to hear that you’re helping out. How are your parents doing?’ Julie shrugged. ‘Could be worse, could be better. They can be quite a handful, but all things considered it’s all right.’ Mr Weasley nodded at her. ‘Great, great. Well, I’d better get going, gotta let my wife know that the twins arrived here safely. Stay strong, Julia.’ ‘It’s Julie, actually.’ ‘Ah, excuse me.’ ‘That’s okay.’ Almost had Mr Weasley reached the door, when Julie suddenly got off her chair and followed him. ‘Sir? Do you maybe know how Harry’s doing?’ Mr Weasley shook his head. ‘Unfortunately, nobody really knows. But he’s got my youngest son and their very intelligent best friend with him, so he’s probably doing fine.’ Julie nodded at him, feeling somewhat reassured. ‘All right, thank you.’

Next morning everyone was very ecstatic about the Weasley twins’ arrival; they seemed to be really popular among the younger crowd. Julie’s hopes of them forgetting about the scheduled tour proved to be in vain; barely had they finished breakfast or the twins were in her face. ‘Hello, Dursley. We’re ready when you are’ George said. Julie quickly grabbed Colin’s arm as he was walking past them. ‘Hi Colin, I have an idea. How about you show the twins around the house today?’ She smiled sweetly at him to persuade him, but that was not needed. ‘Sure, let’s…!’ Colin said cheerfully, but before he could say anything else he was cut short. ‘Oi, Dursley, shifting your responsibilities? Tsk, tsk’ Fred said. At least Julie could tell them apart now one of them had only one ear. She rolled her eyes. ‘Wouldn’t you rather go with Colin instead? You guys know each other better’ she said. ‘Maybe we’d like to get to know you better’ the twins said simultaneously. ‘Gross’ Julie said. Colin walked away, somewhat confused, and thus Julie was forced to take the twins with her. 

Barely had they left the kitchen or Fred started speaking. ‘Don’t worry Dursley, we won’t hurt you.’ ‘At least not on purpose’ George joined in. ‘Why don’t you pick a target that can actually defend themselves’ Julie said annoyedly, as they walked through the first floor corridor. ‘You mean like you and Harry? That’s cute’ Fred said. Julie abruptly stopped walking. ‘First of all, he could’ve beaten me up or jinxed me whenever he wanted to. Second of all, that’s between Harry and me, frankly speaking you have no business talking about that’ she spat. ‘I’m afraid that your first point is invalid Dursley, for you know full well that your parents prevented that from happening. Also, Harry’s practically family, so yeah we kind of do have business’ George said. ‘And we know girls like you, Dursley. Thinking the world revolves around them and that they can do whatever they want, while wearing designer clothes and expensive jewellery’ Fred said. ‘Well, you got me there, that’s exactly how I used to be. But I’m different now, gone are the days where I enjoyed pulling twisted crap on people’ Julie said calmly but clearly. This answer came as a surprise to the twins, who did not respond. Julie took advantage of this by abruptly changing the subject. ‘What happened to your ear anyway?’ ‘Oh, you’re so nosy. Haha, get it? Nose-y?’ The twins burst into laughter, but Julie was not fazed. ‘Sorry, what, didn’t hear you’ she said, emphasizing it even more by turning her ear towards them. The twins looked shocked, and Julie suddenly felt really scared, but then they burst into laughter once more. ‘That one was right on the money, Dursley, well played!’ George even patted her on the shoulder. ‘Yeah, you’re all right, Dursley’ Fred added. ‘Please call me Julie, I don’t really like how my last name sounds’ Julie said. ‘Sure thing, Julie.’ 

They started walking again. ‘You know, since we’ll be living here together, we might as well get along. Why don’t you tell me a little about your joke shop?’ Julie asked kindly. The twins started telling her about their products, and Julie nodded politely. She also asked a few questions, which the twins were happy to answer. ‘Do you make a decent profit?’ Fred pulled out a pile of golden coins. ‘Does this answer your question?’ ‘Er, no, not really, I don’t know wizarding currency.’ ‘Ah, well, yeah, we make a lot of money. Consistency is the key to success, unless, well, you’re consistently bad. An important factor is that we usually test our products on ourselves. In our last year at Hogwarts we also paid first years, and of course we used our friend’s cousin too at one point’ Fred said with a wink. Julie rolled her eyes. ‘Well, that one did work I can tell you’ she just said. She was not fully ready to laugh about it yet, but she was not angry either. ‘We also have a department on Muggle things, like card tricks. Would you like to see one?’ George asked her, pulling out a deck of ordinary cards. Julie raised an eyebrow. ‘Card tricks? Such advanced wizards like yourselves do card tricks?’ ‘Among other things. Just pick a card.’ She sighed and obliged. It was the queen of hearts. ‘Now put it back in the deck.’ She did. The twins did not say or do anything then, so Julie looked at them inquisitively. ‘So…?’ she asked. ‘Oh, right. Cough!’ Fred said. ‘Huh?’ ‘Cough! Like so.’ Fred coughed. Julie followed his example and suddenly she felt something stuck in her throat. She coughed harder and caught a piece of wet paper. ‘Unfold it!’ George said. She did; it was the queen of hearts. ‘Would that be your card?’ George asked smugly. ‘Er, yes actually, but could you please not make stuff come out of my body again?’ Julie asked them, feeling both disgusted and amazed at the same time. ‘You got it, Dursley, er, I mean Julie.’

The tour ended at the big study room. As soon as they set foot inside, all students stopped what they were doing to greet the twins. There was a very happy vibe, which Julie was glad to notice. Everyone was nice to each other in The Lair and generally doing their best to make things work, but they could all use some more laughter and genuine joy rather than just hanging on. Julie sat down and approvingly looked at the students crowding around the twins, asking them all sorts of things about their shop or just fishing for funny stories. Julie had not at all been thrilled about the twins coming to live here, but when they were not jinxing her they actually were not that bad, and if they had such a positive effect on everyone’s mood then why should she complain about their presence? 

Several weeks went by. Julie and the twins were on good terms, playfully insulting each other constantly, which was fun to all of them. On April 1, the twins’ twentieth birthday, she even agreed to kiss them on the cheek. They made use of their time in The Lair by developing new products and all of the students loved their demonstrations. Julie enjoyed them too now that she was not the victim; it was like a professional magic show. 

One evening Julie entered the study room with some of her Muggle school books, and found it was packed with people; students and adults alike. ‘Hello’ she said, but people immediately started hissing at her to be quiet. She put up her hands by means of apology and curiously looked at the far back of the room, were the twins were prodding a what seemed like an ordinary Muggle radio with their wands. Julie sat down next to Justin. ‘What’s going on?’ she whispered. ‘We’re going to listen to Potterwatch!’ Justin whispered back with a twinkle in his eye. ‘What’s…’ ‘It’s a radio show for those who rebel against You-Know-Who, with real facts, rather than alternative ones.’ Before Julie could say anything, a voice came blasting in through the radio. A man named River did news announcements, a moment of silence to recognize people who had lost their lives, and general updates. Everyone in The Lair hung on his every word, and they only started discussing what they had heard about ten seconds after River had stopped speaking. It was amazing to get updates like this, for normally everyone relied on Hestia, Dedalus and the occasional visitor for that. Julie felt a little sad that the show had not said anything about Harry, though.

In the almost ten months that she had now been at The Lair, Julie had grown very close to one person in particular. Not only was Justin simply very nice and fun to hang out with, but the fact that he came from a Muggle family made Julie feel that he really understood her. In life people will always come and go, but some you should really stick to, and to Julie Justin fell into that category. She hoped that when the war was over and they would go their separate ways, they would still remain in touch. Julie also found it very convenient to have magical contacts when this was all over, for she had really taken a liking to the wizarding world and did not want to lose all ties with it.

Friday, May 1, 1998, seemed like an ordinary day to the residents of The Lair. They did some studying, they played some games and enjoyed a nice dinner. In fact it was not until about 11 PM, when Julie, Justin, Colin and the twins were playing Exploding Snap in the kitchen that something odd happened. ‘Do you feel that?’ Justin asked. ‘Feel what?’ the group asked. Justin reached into his pocket and took out a coin. ‘It’s hot, which means that Dumbledore’s Army is being called on,’ Justin said, ‘something’s happening.’ The others, except for Julie of course, got out their coins too and realised that it was behaving just like Justin’s. Suddenly Hestia and a few of the adult wizards and witches stormed into the kitchen. ‘It’s happening! There’s going to be a massive clash at Hogwarts!’ Hestia said. For a few seconds the youngsters were all completely perplexed, but then Justin, Fred, George and Colin all jumped to their feet.

‘We’re coming with you!’ they said in unison. ‘Colin, no, you’re still underaged, you’re staying here’ Hestia said sternly. Colin’s protests were fierce. It was very clear that he wanted to follow his friends and fight for them; when he finally accepted that he could not come he had tears in his eyes. Julie felt for him and gently touched his arm. Just before departure, Justin broke free from the group and walked up to Julie. ‘I’ve got something for you. I’ve kept it all this time just in case.’ To Julie’s amazement he handed her Calum’s watch. ‘Justin, I… how did you get it to work again?’ she asked feebly. ‘Come on Julie, we can do magic here, remember?’ Justin responded with a smile. ‘Aw, come here.’ They hugged. ‘Good luck, Justin. I’ll wait for you’ Julie said. He nodded, gave Colin a pat on the shoulder and then stepped outside with the others.

Julie and Colin sat in the kitchen for hours and hours, waiting for news. They were extremely worried, but there was nothing they could say to each other to make them feel better. Lumi would sometimes bring them tea and cookies, but they both could not really consume anything in this state. This night was what everything had lead to, and the rest of their lives depended on it. Julie had not told her parents, they were already asleep and she felt it was best not to inform them. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. It was about 9 AM when they finally heard someone entering the house. Hestia appeared, looking worn out. ‘Oh, guys…’ she said softly when she saw them sitting there. ‘What happened?’ Colin asked immediately. They would never forget her next few words. ‘The war’s over. We won! Harry has defeated You-Know-Who!’ Julie and Colin were totally speechless for a few seconds, then started cheering. Julie felt incredibly proud of her cousin and about a thousand emotions ran through her. ‘But, there were obviously a lot of casualties’ Hestia continued, settling herself into a chair, sighing tiredly. She mentioned a few names Julie did not know, such as ‘Tonks’, but then Hestia looked at her with an expression of sorrow and regret. ‘I’m really sorry to tell you this, Julie, but Justin was killed. His body was found just outside the castle.’ Those words cut deeper than a knife and Julie felt like she could not breathe. She did not register Hestia’s next words and started to cry silently instead. Lumi stroked her arm, as she could not reach higher. ’17-year-olds do cry…’ the house-elf said sadly. ‘I’m afraid so’ Julie whispered, hugging the elf.

That evening the Dursleys were ready to go home. Julie would not remember much of the majority of this day, it was a total blur to her. She had slept for a few hours, and was not sure whether she was allowed to feel happy that the war was over for it made her feel guilty towards Justin. She realised that she would need some time to figure that out. The residents of The Lair were overjoyed that they were free again, and most of them left as soon as they could. She had already said goodbye to Colin, and he had promised to write her sometimes. Julie put her bags just outside the door, smelling the fresh air, maybe the biggest indicator of freedom. 

‘Feels good, doesn’t it?’ Hestia asked her kindly. She would take the Dursleys back to Privet Drive. Julie nodded. ‘I still can’t believe I’m going back to my own world as a free person. This all ended so abruptly’ Julie said. She looked up at The Lair once more. ‘You know, I’ve come a long way within those walls’ she said. Hestia looked at her curiously, so she continued. ‘When I came here, I hardly knew anything about the wizarding world and I was worried that people would reject me for my past. But I’ve learned that if you really put in an effort, people will notice that and just might like you for who you are today. I’ve become so much wiser and more mature in there. It was truly an invaluable experience. And Hestia, thank you, for, well… everything. I’ll never forget you.’ They hugged. ‘You were such an asset to the house, Julie. I think it’s me who should thank you. And I hope that someday things will become right between you and Harry’ Hestia said. Julie just smiled, and then heard her father’s voice. ‘All right, we’ve got everything. Can we go now?’ he asked impatiently and impolitely. Julie sighed. ‘I guess some things never change.’


	10. Chapter 10

Monday, July 6, 1998

‘I’m home!’ Harry called as he entered The Burrow’s living room through the open back door. ‘Hello dear, you’re right on time for dinner’ Mrs Weasley answered him, and sure enough a very pleasant smell drifted towards him from the kitchen. Harry had just finished another day of work as an Auror. He enjoyed his career tremendously, but with the war still fresh in his mind the thought of coming home to an empty house every day was not at all appealing to him and therefore the Weasleys had so kindly allowed him to live with them for the foreseeable future, an offer he had been very happy to accept. ‘How was work today?’ Mrs Weasley asked, offering him a bowl of soup. ‘Quiet, but that’s all right, just how I always liked it in my life’ Harry said with a slightly cynical smile. Mrs Weasley returned his smile and then called the others. Mr Weasley was still at work, but Ron, Hermione and Ginny were more than happy to enjoy dinner. Ron was an Auror too, while Hermione and Ginny would go back to Hogwarts in September to finish their last year. Hermione could not bear the thought of not finishing her education, while Harry and Ron had not really seen the point of it now that they already got their desired jobs. Immediately after the war, Hermione had gone to Australia to restore her parents’ memories and bring them home. They resumed their lives as dentists and Hermione lived with them, but this week she was staying at her boyfriend’s place. Everyone felt very happy, but Harry still had something to do, something that he had put off for a while. He had decided to finally get it out of the way, though. ‘I’m going to Privet Drive tomorrow afternoon, to pick up my last belongings’ he said, after gulping down his pumpkin juice.

It was true, he had not taken everything with him when he left last year. ‘Do you want us to come with you? You know, for support’ Ron asked, referring to himself and Hermione. ‘It should only take a few minutes’ Harry said. ‘You don’t need to do that by yourself’ Hermione said kindly. ‘All right’ Harry said. He was still a little reluctant to accept help, that was a character trait of his that would probably never change, but he really did appreciate it. He was feeling so happy right now he really did not want the Dursleys to ruin his mood and they would probably be nicer, or at least less rude, to him when he brought his friends.

‘Are you ready?’ Hermione asked Harry quietly. They were standing in front of 4 Privet Drive. It was a sunny afternoon, but Harry did not pay any attention to that. It was actually amazing how unpleasant memories could so fiercely come back to haunt a person just by seeing something, in this case the Dursley residence. Harry sighed, then nodded. ‘Let’s go.’ He stepped forward and rung the doorbell. There was no response for a bit and for a few seconds Harry did not know whether he should feel relieved or not, until he realised that he had better just get this out of the way. ‘The television’s on’ Hermione said, carefully peeking through the living room window and then someone opened the door. For about three seconds Harry and Julie just stared at each other, but then a wide smile spread across the latter’s face. 

‘Harry! Oh my goodness! What an extremely pleasant surprise!’ Julie said happily. ‘Hi, Julie’ Harry said calmly. ‘Hi! And you must be Ron and Hermione’ she said, smiling at Harry’s friends. ‘That’s right’ Ron said. ‘I’ve come to retrieve my remaining belongings’ Harry said, while Julie shook hands with Ron and Hermione. ‘Of course, by all means, come on in’ she said, stepping aside. ‘I’m home alone, by the way’ she told them while closing the door. ‘That’s all right’ Harry said, actually quite happy with that. He had nothing to say to his uncle and aunt; he did not at all feel the need to try and tell them exactly what they had done to him, because he preferred to live in the now. For a few seconds they were all standing a bit awkwardly in the hallway, but then Julie spoke. ‘Would you maybe like a drink?’ she asked them politely. ‘Sure, thank you’ Harry said. He could not help but feel a little impressed with her friendly reception, and while she went into the kitchen to make them some tea, his eyes were inadvertently drawn to the cupboard. Without really thinking about it he opened it and peered inside. ‘Wow, I didn’t remember just how small it was’ he said softly. Hermione gently touched his arm, while Ron looked a bit angry. ‘How could those people do that to you…’ he said quietly, so Julie would not hear him. Harry got on his knees, reached out and grabbed two toy knights. ‘These little guys and the spiders were my only company in there’ he told his friends. ‘The tea’s ready, guys’ Julie said, appearing in the hallway. ‘Oh…’ she said, when she saw what was going on, and she quickly went back into the kitchen, feeling guilty and embarrassed. 

When the trio stepped into the kitchen as well about a minute later, she was glad that Ron asked a completely unrelated question. ‘What’s that delicious smell?’ ‘Ah, I had just finished making brownies,’ Julie said with a warm smile, ‘would you like to try some?’ ‘Are you sure that’s okay, we wouldn’t want to…’ Hermione started but Julie reassured her immediately. ‘I’d be sad if you didn’t! Oh, let me turn this off.’ Julie turned off the television, then looked back at the trio. ‘You can sit down if you like, anywhere’s fine.’ They sat down while Julie brought them the tea and brownies on a tray. She was extremely happy to see Harry and would go to great lengths to make him feel as comfortable as possible. ‘Er, Julie?’ Hermione asked. ‘Yes?’ Julie responded curiously. ‘How did you know our names?’ Julie sat down before answering. ‘Ah, yeah. Well, when I was in hiding, I learned a lot about the wizarding world and associated with magic folks. I heard that you were like the brain of the group’ Julie told Hermione with a smile. Hermione returned the gesture, while Harry suddenly realised Julie had said words like ‘wizarding’ and ‘magic’ without wincing. ‘You learned a lot about the wizarding world?’ he asked her, feeling impressed with her again. ‘Oh, yes, sometimes I’d spend entire days in the library, just absorbing as much information as I could. It’s truly a fascinating world you live in, Harry. Then Justin and Colin would fill me in on what happened at Hogwarts. I know about the Philosopher’s Stone and the Chamber of Secrets for example, and Dumbledore’s Army of course.’ They all looked at her in awe. ‘Julie, that’s amazing’ Harry finally said, actually smiling. ‘Yeah, pretty cool, huh? I really wanted to make the most out of my stay at the safe house, and went the extra mile to understand your world better. We listened to Potterwatch a lot, and I was so mighty proud of you when you won the war’ Julie said. ‘Thanks, Julie’ Harry said. He felt a bit stupid, but he did not know what else to say. He had not expected this at all and could barely believe what he was hearing. ‘What about your parents?’ he asked finally, more to keep the conversation going than anything. Julie shrugged. ‘My mother has some cleaning jobs now, at people’s houses. After being in hiding for almost a year she really wanted to do something rather than sitting at home. She’s working right now, in fact. My father’s got his old job back, which is good. We had to get new furniture after all, since Death Eaters don’t really contribute to your property value.’ ‘I’m sorry about that’ Harry said. ‘Don’t be silly, Harry, you never asked for this to happen. The most important thing is that we’re all okay, you included. My father, however, does blame you for it, unfortunately.’ Those last words earned her angry looks from Ron and Hermione, and Julie sighed before continuing. ‘Well, Harry, you know how he is. He’ll never change. For most people, wisdom comes with age, but unfortunately he is not most people.’ Harry nodded. ‘Right. Well, I guess we’ll go to my room now.’ ‘All right. I’m afraid it’s still a mess. My father never cared, but my mother and I didn’t want to go there. We felt that would be intruding.’

About fifteen minutes later Harry had collected his things, of which the most important to him was the photo album Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year at Hogwarts. Julie came into the hallway to see them off. Ron and Hermione had already stepped outside when Julie touched Harry’s arm. ‘Harry, er… it was really good to see you again’ she told him. ‘It was actually good to see you too, Juliebee’ Harry said. ‘Yeah, don’t do that’ Julie said, but with a smile, before continuing. ‘Harry, could we maybe meet up some time? I have some things to tell you, and even though your friends are really nice, some things are best said privately.’ Much to her happiness, Harry agreed to meet her next week. ‘That went well’ Ron said when Julie had closed the door. ‘She was actually really nice’ Hermione said. ‘Yes, she has come a long way’ Harry said. He suddenly realised that Julie was a typical example of someone who probably would not have been a bad person if she had only had a different kind of upbringing. 

Exactly a week later Julie stood on Charing Cross Road in London. She was a tad early; it was a quarter to eleven, and Harry had agreed to meet her at eleven. She watched other people go about their day, sometimes smiling or nodding at people she made eye contact with. She always enjoyed watching people. She would fantasise who they were, and what they did, and why they were here on this specific time. Every person on this planet had a unique story to tell after all. She was nervous to meet her cousin. Even though their last meeting had been very pleasant, there was still an open wound between them and she was not at all sure whether that could ever be fully healed. 

‘Hello Julie’ a voice said. She looked up and smiled at her cousin. ‘Harry! Hi! I’m so glad to see you!’ She wanted to hug him, but did not dare to. ‘Well, Julie, I must say I was quite impressed with some of the things you told me last week.’ ‘I’m glad to hear that’ Julie said. ‘Er, shall we go inside?’ Harry asked. Julie looked behind her. ‘Inside? There’s nothing here.’ ‘The Leaky Cauldron’s a magical building, that’s why you can’t see it. But if you hold my arm I can take you with me.’ So she did, and a few seconds later she found herself in a cosy pub. The light came from candles on wooden tables and there was a crackling fire coming from the fireplace. ‘Mr Potter! What an honour!’ the host said. ‘Hello, Tom. Two butterbeers, please’ Harry said. ‘Sure, coming right up.’ Harry and Julie sat down at a table rather far from the others, so that they could speak privately. ‘Thanks’ she mumbled when the host put down the drinks for them. Harry looked at her. ‘So, what did you want to talk to me about?’ Julie took a breath; this was it. It was going to happen here and now. She looked her cousin in the eyes. 

‘Harry, I’m really very sorry about my behaviour in the past. About how I always bullied you, how I got you in trouble with my parents, how I always shoved my presents in your face, that I was easily the worst cousin in the world and that you never had a real childhood. It was all wrong, completely wrong, and I consider it the biggest mistake of my life. I’m sorry that you were never treated as a member of the family, and for all the neglect and abuse that you had to endure. It’s not like you had ever chosen to live with us. And… if you never want to see me again, I’d understand. I really would. But I’m more sorry than I could ever put into words, no matter how much I’d try.’ Harry did not say anything. He was probably too surprised; she would have been. After what seemed like an eternity he spoke. ‘Thank you, Julie, that means a lot. I forgive you.’ Now it was Julie who was somewhat surprised. ‘That easily?’ she said faintly. ‘Well, it’s like you said that night you departed from Privet Drive to go into hiding. I don’t want to lose the only cousin I have.’ Julie smiled. ‘Harry… I don’t know what to say. Thank you. And if there’s ever anything I can do for you, just ask. I want to be a good cousin from now on.’ Harry nodded. ‘Not only are you one of the few relatives I have, but it’s not entirely your fault. It’s your parents who spoiled you so much and never set boundaries, and always allowed you to do whatever you wanted.’ ‘Yes, I guess that’s true. But I don’t want to deny my own responsibility. I should’ve behaved better, no matter what. By the way, I know why my parents raised me like that.’ She told Harry what her mother had told her in The Lair. How she wanted Julie to be the special one, so she would not feel jealous like her mother had felt towards her sister. ‘But,’ Julie concluded, ‘that’s not your fault and not a legitimate reason to make you sleep in a cupboard.’ 

They finished their drinks. ‘By the way, I have something for you. When I told my parents I was going to meet up with you, my mother wanted me to give you this.’ Julie handed him a small package, that Harry carefully unwrapped. A tiny blanket fell on his lap. ‘It’s the blanket you were bundled in that night you were left on our doorstep. It was your mother’s, so my mother felt it’s right that you have it now’ Julie said. Harry was in total shock, and so Julie gave him a minute, stepping away from the table. When she came back, Harry had safely tucked the blanket away. ‘Shall I show you Diagon Alley? It’s right behind the pub. It’s basically a wizarding shopping street and we can talk some more’ Harry said. ‘Sure, that sounds nice’ Julie said with a smile.

They walked through Diagon Alley (where literally everyone greeted Harry) and did a lot of catching up. Julie told Harry some more about her time at The Lair, while Harry told her about his new career. Julie felt a little sad to talk about Justin, but did so anyway. ‘…and when Hestia told me, I just broke down.’ She showed him her watch. ‘He magically repaired this and gave it back to me just before he left for battle. It reminds me of two awesome guys now.’ Harry looked at her. ‘You’ll find true love someday, Julie.’ Julie just smiled. ‘Well, for now I’m just happy that I have you in my life.’ 

They stopped at Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Barely had they stepped inside or they were greeted enthusiastically by Fred and George. ‘Harry! Julie! What brings you here together?’ ‘Oh, I was just showing Julie around Diagon Alley’ Harry said casually. He would not mention her apology to anyone but Ron and Hermione, because he felt that was something personal between him and Julie. ‘Hi guys’ Julie said, genuinely happy to see them again. The twins gave them a tour around the shop and Julie loved every second of it. ‘Business has been booming, now that You-Know-Who’s gone!’ Fred said, patting Harry on the shoulder. Harry smiled awkwardly; he would never be the kind of person who was comfortable with constant praise. ‘Well, it was a little rough when you were still recovering from that explosion’ George said. ‘Only because we had so many orders’ Fred said with a wink. When Harry and Julie left, the twins told her that she was welcome anytime, which she was happy to hear. When Harry had shown her every shop, they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. 

‘I guess I’d better get going now’ Julie said. Harry looked at her. ‘We could Apparate if you like, that’ll save you some time’ Harry offered. ‘Sure’ Julie said, smiling at him. She did not enjoy that sensation, she had felt that during her arrival and departure at The Lair, but she really appreciated his gesture. When they appeared on Privet Drive that evening, Julie looked at Harry a final time. ‘Harry, I… Thank you for, you know, being so forgiving.’ ‘Don’t worry Julie, I had a great time with you today. We should do that again some time’ Harry said kindly. ‘I’d love that’ Julie said, and then they hugged.

In the following years, Harry and Julie kept working on their relationship. Julie still felt a little guilty towards him at times, but Harry genuinely liked how she was now and made sure that she did not feel bad, never bringing up the past. Eventually there was practically no more awkwardness between the two of them and they enjoyed a very healthy relationship. Harry also found her a very useful contact in the Muggle world. After finishing high school, Julie enrolled in culinary school, eventually working her way up to owning several restaurants. Harry was happy to invite her to his wedding with Ginny, and Julie returned the favour by inviting them when she married a Muggle. Harry and Julie were in frequent touch and fully trusted each other. Life was really great sometimes.


End file.
